Ice stage
by Aimii0
Summary: Mirai and Tsubasa are May's daughters. After her sister's death, Tsubasa joins Kaleido Stage as an ice-skater. She is chosen by Fool to perform the Moonlight's maneuvre, but will she be able to do it with such a grumpy partner as hers?
1. Ice goddes

**_Chapter 1. Ice goddess_**

Once upon a time, in a far away land where only Gods could enter, the Goddess of Water fell in love with the God of Wind. Despite their love, nobody acknowledged their relationship. They ran away together and from their love, two girls were born; the two goddess of ice. But only one could be the true goddess of ice, their mother decided one of them as being the true goddess of ice and the other one, the one who'll make her shine.

**...**

Japan, Tokyo. May Oswald and her daughter Tsubasa were clinching their fists.

_Ok, that spin was perfect. _May thought as she watched the ice skater from the rink from the lobby.

_Come on onee-chan, you can do it! _Tsubasa encouraged mentally. Her bright, blue eyes never let out of sight the silhouette whom was spinning on the rink.

_"This is the last-minute from Mirai Oswald's long program, she has big chances to get the second place right behind Hikari Akaru. If only she could make some- W-Wait ! She's preparing for a new spin?! If she'll manage a lutz, she has all the chances to get the first place!"_ All the spectators jumped from their seats and started encouraging Mirai.

"WHAT?! A lutz?! This isn't even in her program and the last time she tried one she almost broke a leg! I'm gonna-"

Tsubasa catched her mother's hand and stopped her. May turned her head and looked at her other daughter.

"Mirai will do it mom, trust her!" she smiled making May to have the same confidence as her. After all, nothing can stop Mirai now.

_"The audience is getting excited and it looks like Mirai is gonna do her jump soon, everyone's wondering if she's really gonna do a lutz. Her speed is increasing and.. she jumped!" _There was a moment of silence. The audience was speechless as well as May and Tsubasa. As Mirai stopped in a beautiful and graceful position, the audience started clapping loud and throwing roses on the ice. _"Incredible ladies and gentlemens, Mirai Oswald just performed an incredible double lutz! The jury is impressed but still, they have to chose the winner."_

Mirai picked a bouquet of roses from the ice and headed with it to the lobby where her mother and sister were waiting. She stepped out of the ice and ran to her sister's arms.

"Onee-chan, you were great! Not great, the best! You'll surely win!" Tsubasa said with a large smile on her face.

Tsubasa's bright,blue eyes looked in Mirai's grey ones. Their eyes were the only difference between them in their appearance. The two of them had the same black, straight, long hair. The current difference between was that Mirai's hair was tied in a bun while Tsubasa's was tied in a high pony-tail. That's how Tsubasa was always wearing her while Mirai was let it free.

Behind the twins, May sighed crossing her arms in front of her chest. "You know how luckily you were just now, don't you?"

Mirai giggled, releasing from her sister's embrace. "I'm sorry for worrying you mom but there was no other way, if I didn't made that lutz I couldn't have any chance."

"Fine but-"

_"Please attention ladies and gentlemens, the jury made their decision." _Tsubasa gave her sister a thumb up right before she left to the rink.

All the girls who competed until now made a line and the three persons from the jury stepped in a parallel line in front of them. A tall man had a microphone in one hand. "My name is Takumi Hisashi and I'm the president of the jury for the contest "Princess of Ice". Along with my partners, we decided three of twenty girls who had a remarkable performance. Three of you will have a place in the famous contest "All-Japan". Whoever wins at "All-Japan" will go to the Olympics next year. Without any other interruptions, the 3th place is occupied by Hana Takurumi." The audience applauded as a blonde girl stepped in front smiling. "The second place is occupied by Hikari Akaru." a beautiful red-head stepped next to Hana with a unsatisfaited look on her face. "And the first place is occupied by.."

Tsubasa put her hands in a prayer position and closed her eyes. _Go onee-chan!_

".. Mirai Oswald!" the audience jumped from their seats again, Mirai stepped next to the other girls with the brightest smile. Her legs were trembling.

"She did it!" Tsubasa threw her fist in the air.

After another round of applause, Mirai headed right to her sister. "I knew you're gonna do it, I told you you're the best!" Tsubasa hugged her sister even tighter.

Mirai was breathing hard, her heart was beating fast. "I-I can't believe I actually did it!"she turned to her mother and hugged her. "I did it mom, I'm going to All-Japan!"

May hugged back her daughter. "Congrats Mirai, you deserve it."

"You were so beautiful out there onee-chan! Your spins were perfect and your speed was so good !" Tsubasa continued complimenting her sister whom was now blushing.

"You're exaggerating onee but still, thank you."

Tsubasa grinned. "Let's go home and celebrate with papa!"

Her mother and sister nodded.

**XXX**

"Gampai!" the four members of the family made a toast for Mirai's win. They were having dinner.

"I'm proud of you Mirai." Leon said to her daughter smiling.

"Thank you papa." she smiled and took a drink from her orange juice.

"You should've see her papa! She was so great, she was just like a ballerina!" Tsubasa continued praising her sister excited.

Leon smiled as May giggled. "Luckily that everything was recorded by your mother." the silver-haired man continued. "Though, I'm sorry I couldn't make it Mirai. The plane was late."

"It's ok papa." the grey-eyed twin answered kindly, she understood her father.

"Papa, papa! When are you gonna take us to Kaleido Stage again?" Tsubasa asked excited knowing that her father just came back from Kaleido Stage.

"Probably in the holidays." Leon answered short.

Tsubasa puffed her cheeks. "But that's what you always say! I haven't been there since I was 9 and after all, I was only once!"

"I go there to work Tsubasa. I always train hard to make a good show and I don't have the time to look after you. Your mother is also busy training Mirai.."

"Fine,fine I understand!" she said as she took the last bite from her food.

"Onee I finished, do you want to come to my room?" Mirai asked.

Tsubasa nodded and climbed off her seat, she grabbed her sister's wrist and ran upstairs to her room. As soon as they arrived in Mirai's room, Tsubasa fell on her bed. Mirai didn't say anything but Tsubasa saw the worried expression on her face which was very strange.

"Is there something you want to talk about onee-chan?" she asked looking with her blue eyes at her sister which sat on the bed next to her.

Mirai smiled, she already stopped being surprised whenever her sister saw right through her. "I.. I'm wondering if I can make it Tsubasa.."

Tsubasa blinked a few times, she was confused. "Do what?"

"All-Japan. I've always dreamed of going there and now.. I'm insecure." she whispered.

Tsubasa hit her sister's back. "Come on onee-chan, you know you can do it! You worked so much and I, mom and dad are always gonna support you." again, she showed her trademark smile. Instead of smiling, her sister started crying silently. That's when Tsubasa realized. "This is not the true reason you wanted me to come here right?"

Mirai nodded as she cried. "I.. I don't deserve a-any of this onee. You love to ice skate t-too.. but you couldn't improve because of m-me. I was t-the one who convinced mom to train me a-and only me." she buried her face in her hands.

Tsubasa never thought about this until now, she never thought Mirai felt this way.

The two of them started skating at 5 years. They were both talented and loved the ice but in different ways. They were going with May every day from winter to the frozen lake to skate.

May married Leon and gave up Kaleido Stage but she thought it will be only for 2-3 years, she never thought that her daughters may have the same love as her. So, she had to gave up Kaleido Stage forever. Though, she didn't let Leon gave up too. He was Sora's partner and couldn't accept him giving up. But May wasn't sad, she was very happy that her daughters loved the same thing as her; the ice. She wanted to train both of them and make them go to international contest, but their moves, their strong points and their weaknesses were too different. She couldn't make it, so Tsubasa gave up. She decided she'll skate only for her and support her sister with all her heart.

"It's ok onee-chan." Tsubasa hugged her sister. "I was the one to decided this." Mirai looked at her with teary eyes, Tsubasa wiped away a tear and smiled. "I'm happy watching you skate and I still skate, I never gave up on skating and I never will!" Mirai looked at her sister smiling, she wasn't surprised at all by her answer. She knew that her sister would always give her everything. Tsubasa handed Mirai her pinky finger and smiled. "Let's make a promise."

Mirai looked at her sister a bit confused. "A promise?"

Tsubasa nodded. "You promise to go to the Olympics and I promise to buy you _that _pair of skates."

"No way, you mean the ones I've always wanted?! Wait.. Olympics?!" Mirai jumped from the bed as Tsubasa nodded happily. "I can't do it, I'm only 14! There are hardly accepted 18 years old girls.. I don't have chances."

"Why not? You're already preparing for All-Japan, the next step is the Olympics!"

Mirai smiled again at her sister, she knew it was useless to argue with her. And to be honest, Tsubasa made her be more confident. Mirai held Tsubasa's pinky with hers. "Pinky promise."

**XXX**

"You jumped too slow!" May yelled at her daughter.

Tsubasa was looking worried at her sister's practice from the bench. It's been already three weeks since Mirai started learning how to do axels but still, she couldn't manage to do a double axel. Mirai was exhausted, she's been practicing since morning and it was 8 p.m. now.

"I'll try again!" Mirai yelled as she got up from the ice, she could barely breath.

May sighed. "No, it's enough for today. Go change, I'll wait for you two at home." she turned around and left.

Tsubasa was surprised, she didn't know her mother coud act like this with her sister. She was somewhat upset. She turned her head to the rink where her sister fell on the ice again.

"Onee-chan!" she ran towards her side. "Let's go, mother said it's ok."

Mirai shook her head. "Y-You can go onee, I'll stay a little longer to practice."

"But you're exhausted. If you want, we'll come early in the morning but you have to sleep now."

"Tsubasa, you understand right?" Mirai smiled at her sister. "I have to do at least one double axel tonight or else, I won't be able to face mom."

"I-I understand.. I really, really understand onee-chan, but if you're gonna continue, you may hurt yourself." Tsubasa protested but Mirai only smiled, grateful for her sister's care.

The grey-eyed twin went to a bench to take a small break, she needed to talk with her sister. Tsubasa followed her and also sat down. Mirai looked at the sunset and smiled, she could see her breathes on the cold,winter air. "I.. Even now, I'm still surprised that I managed to get on All-Japan. You know, not even mom thought I could make it, so she didn't train me hard enough to have any chances, until I spoke with her. I agreed to never complain about how the training, no matter how hard it was." Mirai was smiling and Tsubasa continued listening to her. "If I can make a double axel now, I may even get to the Olympics Tsubasa, can you even imagine? It'd be like a dream come true. Japan, mom, dad and first of all, you, all of you will be proud of me."

Tsubasa understood a little better her sister now, though she knew from the beginning Mirai won't give up so easily. "You've always been like this onee-chan." Tsubasa continued.

"What do you mean?" Mirai asked blinking a few times.

"You always put others in front of you."

Again, Mirai's lips curved into a smile. "You're like this too onee."

The one confused this time was Tsubasa. "I.."

"Trust me onee-chan, after all, I know you best!"

Tsubasa nodded and jumped from the bench. "Ok, enough break! Go and try again onee-chan, I'll be right here cheering for you."

Mirai's heart was even lighter now, she always felt a bit happier when she spoke with her sister.

The next three jumps were also fails but the fourth one was perfect; a perfect double axel.

"You did it!" Tsubasa jumped on the ice and hugged her sister.

"I did it onee!"

**XXX**

_"Welcome to the famous contest from Japan, All-Japan! The first three girls who are gonna impress the jury with their elegance, moves and spins will won the chance to join on the international Olympics next year. There are 21 girls. 3 girls from each town where the preliminaries had place. All of them will do a short program of one minute and a long program of 3 minutes. Do your best ladies!"_

"Mirai, I just talked with the organizer and you're number 10, right after Hikari Akaru." May announced her daughter.

Hearing this, Mirai started getting really nervous. "I'll go get you a bottle of water onee-chan!" Tsubasa said and immediately left.

As she headed towards the hallway, the first girl started skating. She finally found the locker and entered, there were still some of Mirai's rivals there changing.

"Hey, I heard this girl is May Oswald's daughter." one of the girls whispered, thought it was obvious she didn't make an effort to make it a whisper. Tsubasa heard her clearly and she figured out they thought she was Mirai.

She turned around prepared to explain the confusing. "Oh no, I'm not-"

"Tch, of course she'll win. May Oswald never trained anybody and not I understand why, she wanted her daughter to get to the Olympics." another girl said louder.

Tsubasa was surprised by how mean the girls could be, that's why she chosed to follow other path of the ice. She was rarely getting angry, but when it came to her sister, she couldn't control herself. "You don't know anything! My sister will win this contest because she's talented and worked very hard. I don't know how good you are at skating, but I know for sure onee-chan has something you'll never had!" she exited the room and closed the door behind her.

Tsubasa was angry but she remembered to hurry to her sister and support her. Mirai's short program is gonna start soon. When she finally managed to arrive at the lobby, she heard the audience applauding and saw her sister standing on the ice.

"Kind of late." Tsubasa saw her mother smiling satisfied, she knew this was a good thing and this ment that Mirai did well.

"I can't believe I lost her short program!"

"Onee!" Mirai came in the lobby."Something happened? It took you long enough and you look-"

"I'm fine onee-chan, I'm really sorry I wasn't here to see you." Tsubasa interrupted her, the last thing she wanted was to tell her about those girls.

"No problem, I think I did well." Mirai looked at her mother waiting for a confirmation. When May nodded, she smiled brightly.

"You have to rest now, your long program is gonna start in about 40 minutes." May completed. "You did well."

Mirai was very happy to hear those words, as happy as when she told her mother she managed a double axel.

Tsubasa saw the emotions took all of her sister's energy, also, she was too nervous last night to sleep so she grabbed her wrist and sat on a bench. She put her sister's head on her lap. "You can sleep for a few minutes onee-chan, I'll wake you up 15 minutes before your program."

"But-"

"No but, you're exhausted!" Tsubasa was really serious when it came to her sister, there was one time when she fainted from exhaustion. Mirai smiled and in the next second, she was already asleep.

She really wanted her sister to have a good rest, but more, she didn't want her to meet with those girls. She knew Mirai was stronger than her and she would never let something like this bring her down, but she didn't want to risk.

The time passed fast and there were only five minutes left until Mirai's long program.

"Onee-chan!" Tsubasa yelled for the fifth time, this time louder.

"Yes!" Mirai jumped. "Onee, when is my turn?!"

"Five minutes."

"WHAT?! Why didn't you wake me up earlier?" Mirai started making some exercices.

"I tried!" she snuck out her tongue but then smiled. "Do you best onee-chan."

_"Next, Mirai Oswald. Please step on the rink." _

Mirai looked one last time at her sister before stepping on the ice. As soon as the music started, her whole program passed by very fast. Tsubasa was already familiar with her moves and spins, but still, she looked graceful as a swan. She couldn't help but compare herself with her sister; it was like the comparation between a duck and a swan.

The last thirty seconds from her program came and she still didn't do the double axel, though her program was perfect until now, she doesn't have any chance without the axel.

Mirai spinned 2 and half times, her double axel was perfect and the audience's applause was loud.

"Go onee-chan!" Tsubasa yelled.

"Oh no!" Tsubasa heard her mother and she turned her head towards her. May's expression was worried, more like shocked.

"What is mama?"

"She's crazy, that girl really wants to cause me a heart attack." she said angrier than even. "She wants to do a triple axel!" May said as she watched Mirai's every move.

Tsubasa already knew Mirai was gonna do something big and surpring. After all, that was the magic thing about Mirai's performances.

_"These are the last 10 seconds from Mirai Oswald's long program, she has time for only one more jump. It looks like she'll successfully occupy one of the tirth places. W-Wait! It looks like-"_

Tsubasa put her hands in front of her chest in X, she jumped and spinned 3 and half times. A triple axe, she perfectly completed a triple axel. As Mirai finished her long program, she stopped in a graceful position waiting for the audience's reaction. In the next second, everyone jumped from their seats and clapped as loud as possible. Tsubasa was speachless.

"W-When did she.. learn such a jump?" May could barely say, she was just too surprised.

Mirai headed towards the lobby with a big smile upon her face.

"Onee-"

_"Ladies and gentlemans, the three winners are already decided. The tirth place is occupied by Yukari Himitsu."_ A blonde girl stepped on the ice smiling, Tsubasa remembered her performance and she was happy this girl won, she truly deserved it. _"The second place is occupied by Hikaru Akaru." _Tsubasa's well known rival also stepped next to the other girl. _"And the first place is occupied by.." _A man from the jury took a microphone and spoke instead of the man speaking on the speakers. "Japan's new genius, Mirai Oswald."

* * *

**A/N: **I'm sorry if there are any mistakes, it's kind of late already. Anyway, this is my first Kaleido Star fanfic and I hope you all will like it.

By the way, here's some background information on figure skating jumps, in order of difficulty from lowest to highest is: toe, salchow, loop, flip, lutz, axel.

Please REVIEW! Your oppinion means a lot to me. :)


	2. A fallen angel

**__A/N: **I can't believe I updated after a month! I'm really sorry, I'm busy with school and I really don't want to rush the things with this story.

Please review!

**_Chapter 2. A fallen angel_**

The time passed by so fast, it's been already so many months since All-Japan. Ever since then, Mirai became a star. She appeared in TV shows and everyone from Japan knows her, because she's the new ice-skating genius. It's incredible how a 14 years old girl can do a triple axel, she has a beautiful talent. Whenever she had free time, she trained and not even Mirai could believe she will go to the Olympics. This was her dream, her dream was about to come true.

"I'm off mom!" Tsubasa yelled as she ran downstairs.

"What about breakfast?" May also said from the kitchen.

"No time, I'm already late!" the black-haired girl finished tying her hair in her sign pony-tail and closed the door behind her.

Again, May sighed and wondered how could two twin girls be so different. Still, she loved them both.

Though she was late, Tsubasa still decided to go and wake up her best friend; she knew he was late too. Tsubasa took one small rock and threw it on a window.

"Daichi-kun, wake up!" she yelled with a smile upon her face.

The next moment, a lazy boy with bright-white, messy hair opened the window and yawned. "Tsu..basa?" he asked still trying to figure out whom was yelling his name with his eyes half-open.

"Oh Juliette." Tsubasa said amused sitting like Romeo.

"Tsubasa.. do you know what time is it?! How can you wake up a person at this hour?" he asked half-angry, half-amused.

"Well, my dear Juliette it's 8:45 and if we won't hurr-"

"8:45?! Oh wait, I'm going to jump right now! No, wait. I have to change. Wait there, I'll come right away." Daichi closed the window and three minutes later he was in front of Tsubasa. She was sure he heard him saying 'I'm not hungry mom!' right before closing the door behind him. "Let's go!" he catched her wrist and they both ran to school.

"Thanks, Tsubasa." Daichi said turning his head around and smiling.

"No problem!" she grinned in exchange.

Tsubasa always loved this kind of morning, though, her teachers not. The two of them didn't figure out the classes have already begun and they opened the door to their class, finding her teacher with a book on his hands looking at them and the rest of their classmates in the same position.

"Oswald-san, Takahashi-san, I'm glad you decided to join us today." he said smiling but a dark aura surrounded him.

Unfortunately, the two of them didn't understand his sarcasm. "Hello Nagami-sensei!" they said and hurried to their seats.

Before Tsubasa and Daichi could reach them, the teacher came beside them and they finally understood. "If you two are gonna be late at my class one more time, I'm gonna.." the black-haired man said with an even darker aura.

Tsubasa turned her head around scared. "Y-You're gonna..?"

He smiled. "You don't wanna know."

The two of them sat down, their seats were next to each other.

"He's creeper than usual." Tsubasa whispered.

Daichi nodded.

**XXX**

"M-Mother.. can I t-take a break..?" Mirai asked as she put her hands on her hips, she's been training for five hours now.

May though it was weird, Mirai never asked for a break until now. "Fine." she decided Mirai really needed a break. The Olympics are next week and she should already stop training and relax. "This will be the last time we train, it's 8 p.m. already. After all, we need to leave to New York tomorrow." she said smiling proud at her daughter.

"U-Uhm.. mom? Can I go to a friend's house before start packing?" Mirai asked insecure as she put on her shoes.

May raised an eyebrow. "Sure, just don't be late."

Mirai nodded and watched as her mom was leaving the rink. As soon as her disappeared, Mirai ran to the forest at the end of the town. It wasn't too far from the ice-rink but nobody ever goes there, especially at night. She had a smiled upon her face and when she stopped, her smile shined brighter.

"I-I'm sorry I'm late." she said between hard breaths.

A boy with blue eyes stepped in front of Mirai. "No problem." he smiled gently which made Mirai's heart skip a beat.

"Shall we start?" she asked seeing he already had his skates on.

He nodded. "I'll wait for you." he said seeing her skates in her hands.

Next to them was a frozen lake, this was their secret place. "Done." Mirai said coming to his side. He took her hand and they both stepped on the ice. The magic begun.

He raised Mirai's body up his head, she had a graceful position. They both than spin next to each other, it was incredible how they could move in the same time. It was just like Mirai was made for _him. _They finished their so-called program.

"How was it?" Mirai asked looking at the boy in front of her excited.

"Perfect." he put a hand on her head and patted it slowly. Mirai's cheeks turned a light red. "That's all for today." he said turning around.

"W-What?" Mirai was surprised by his words. "But-"

"Don't you remember? It's late and you'll have a long tomorrow. You have to rest." his smiled made her give up, she was really happy about his concern.

They sat on a rock together, the sky was full of stars. They started taking off their skates. "The sky is really nice tonight." Mirai spoke.

The boy turned his gaze towards the sky. "Mhm." he said while looking up.

"I'm afraid." Mirai said as she released her long hair from the bun she had until now, letting it fall over her shoulders. He didn't say anything and for a moment was silence.

"Believe in yourself, you're the best skater I have ever seen after all." he said slowly.

Mirai giggled. "Like I thought, it seems really weird to hear something like this from you."

"You know I have never been good at things like this."

Mirai got up from the rock and sat in front of him. "When I come back from New York, I have something I need to tell you." she said blushing unnoticeable.

He simply smiled and turned his head towards the sky again. "A shooting star." he said.

"Make a wish." Mirai said while closing her eyes.

**XXX**

"Ok, everything's ready?" May asked as she took one look at her daughters. Leon visited them a few times since All-Japan but now he's still at Kaleido Stage.

The girls nodded and they headed towards May's car. "New York, here we come!" Tsubasa said excited. Tsubasa talked most of time. May was very tired so she slept in the plane and Mirai was too excited. "I can't understand how mom can sleep in a place like this." the blue-eyed girl said. It was her first time with the plane and the seats were the same as hell for her. Well, actually, she didn't like small places in general.

Mirai giggled. "It's not that bad."

The hours passed very slow for Tsubasa, she thanked God when the plane finally arrived in New York. "I'm sleepy." she said yawning, she didn't get a single chance to sleep.

The three girls took a taxi and went straight to the hotel they are gonna spend their whole week until the Olympics. It was 2 pm now though when they left it was about the same time.

"Ok, let's go to sleep." May announced clapping her hands. When she saw her daughters already asleep on the bed, she smiled and went in the other room

**.**

**.**

**.**

"It's so biiig!" Tsubasa said opening large her arms.

A tiny man smiled gently at the girl's enthusiasm. "Ohohoho, I'm glad you like it. This is where the Olympics will have place tomorrow." May was also looking satisfied at the giant ice-rink. She was sure the audience will be over 1000. "I'm honored to meet you miss Wong. You two little sisters are very cute as well. You know, I was a big fan of your-"

"They're not my sisters, they're my daughters." May said giving a deadly glare to that man. "And my name is not Wong anymore," she raised her arm, showing the man the ring she was wearing. "I'm married."

The man froze. "O..Oh.. I had no idea.."

"Mom, we have to go. The taxi we called arrived." Mirai said smiling at her mother, Tsubasa was still on the ice trying not to fall because she was still in her shoes.

May nodded and looked towards Tsubasa. "Come on Tsubasa, we have to go!" she said loud.

After spending a few hours at a cafeteria in New York, the night came when the girls arrived at the hotel. Tsubasa went right in her and Mirai's room and fell asleept immediately. May stopped Mirai for a moment and the two of them went in May's room.

"Is there something wrong mom?" Mirai asked following her mom with her eyes as she sat on the bed.

May patted the bed inviting her daughter to sit next to her. Mirai did so. "Here." May said handing to Mirai a letter.

The girl took it and looked at the only name; Leon Oswald. "For me?" she asked. As soon as May nodded, Mirai opened the letter.

_"Dear Mirai,_

_I'll start by saying that I'm sorry I can't be there for you in such an important moment of your life. I'd really love to see all your efforts being rewarded and also, I'd love to see the million of people from there yelling your name. Of course, I'll watch everything from TV. _

_I want to you to know that I'm very proud of you. Your dream was to win the Olympics, right? I'm sure you'll make your dream come true. You know I have never been good at doing this kind of things so, do your best. Also, Sora wishes you luck too._

_ -Papa."_

Mirai smiled, her heart felt so warm and all her worries disappeared. "Thank you mom." she said hugging her mother tightly.

"You know I'm proud of you too, right?"

Mirai nodded and kissed her mother's cheek. "I know, good night."

The grey-eyed twin entered slowly in her room and found her sister sleeping exhausted in the bed. She opened a bag and took out a letter. She smiled and whispered to herself. "I will surely give it to him."

**XXX**

_"Incredible, the genius of Japan, Mirai Oswald just jumped two meters above the ice! She flew and her gracefulness made her look like an angel, she has all the chances to win the Olumpics!" _

Mirai ended her long program with a pirouette, her white, small dress twisted along with her every audience started yelling her name, her heart was beating incredible fast. The smile never left her face.

"Onee-chan, you did it again! How could have you possibly jump so high?!" Tsubasa said hugging her sister tightly as soon as she stepped on the lobby.

"I.. I have no idea.." she said breathing hard.

_"We'll announce the winner of this year's Olympics in the next seconds, the skaters, please step on the ice."_

Mirai hurried to the ice after her sister gave her a thumb up and her sign smile.

_"The 3rd place is occupied by Lichter Anna!" _A petite, shy girl stepped in front smiling proud. _"The second place is occupied by Hannah Jackson!" _Another girl stepped next to the other one receveing a silver medal.

"All or nothing." whispered Mirai to herself as her mother and sister were holding her hands.

_"The first place is occupied by.." _that moment, Mirai stopped breathing for a moment. _".. Mirai Oswald!"_

Mirai couldn't believe, what she just heard couldn't be possibly true. She heard her mother congratulating her and felt her sister's warm arms around her neck but she couldn't move. Also, in the background, she heard the audience yelling out her name._  
_

**.**

**.**

**.**

"And you had to see that spin, it was so incredible! My onee-chan is the best!" Tsubasa said tot the person she was talking to on the phone.

_"I saw it Tsubasa, I watched the whole thing on TV." _Daichi answered.

"But it was so much more incredible live!"

_"I'll make sure to congratulate your sister when you're back. By the way, when will you be here?" _

"Tomorrow around noon but I may be late, it seems like the weather is really bad." they talked a bit and Tsubasa hang up. "Mom, when will be arriving?" she asked the person behind her.

May had a worried face. "I don't know Tsubasa, but this storm looks really troublesome." she said looking out the window.

The girls were already in the plan for an hour now, Mirai put a hand on her twin's shoulder. "Don't worry onee, we'll be there by tomorrow at noon."

Tsubasa smiled and wanted to answer but a suddenly noise made her stop.

_"Attention passagers, the plane's wing was hit by a lightning! PLEASE-" _beep, beep.

"Onee-chan, mom!" Tsubasa yelled searching for her sister's hand.

"Onee!" Mirai also called out.

Everyone started yelling as the plane was falling, the light was turning on and off, and Tsubasa knew this is gonna be the end.


	3. Time passes

**_Chapter 3. Time passes_**

One year has passed since the plane accident and the Olympics. At that time, Mirai died. The last thing Tsubasa remembers about her beloved sister was her crying face. Since that time, the brightness and the light from Oswald family disappeared. Leon came back from Kaleido Stage, but it wasn't clear if he's making a pause or if he's gonna stop performing. Either way, it was clear that May needed him now the most, as well as Tsubasa.

It was breakfast time, the TV was turned on.

_"Good morning Shizuka-san, what news do you bring us from the world of sports today?"_

_"Today is a special day. As I'm sure everyone knows, last year at this time, the brightest star of Japan's sports history died at a very young age. Mirai Oswald, the first person in Japan's history who brought the gold medal at ice-skating for her country died in a plane accident."_

"Stop it." May said looking down at the table, Leon was already next to the TV so in the next second, it was turned off. "Thank you."

Her sister's death was a shock which turned everyone who knew her's life upside down. Especially Tsubasa's. She was the closest to her. The most painful thing was that she couldn't even go to her funeral since she herself was in coma a month after the accident. When she opened her eyes and May hugged her crying endlessly, Tsubasa was confused and dizzy, she had no idea what was going around her. And after he found out, she wished she would have died in her sister's place.

"I'm off mother, father." she didn't receive an answer from her mother, only her father waved to her from distance. Before she closed the door, Tsubasa heard her mother starting to cry again.

As she walked to high school, Tsubasa began again wondering the same thing. Why does she live? What for? She couldn't answer to that, but neither think of doing such a stupid thing as suicide. She couldn't do this now when her mother was in this state.

May was very distant towards Tsubasa and always treated her coldly, thought she never really wanted to do this. Tsubasa knew sometimes she blamed her for her sister's death, but she never cried in front of her parents, not even once.

"Tsubasa!" Tsubasa immediately recognized the voice and stopped.

Daichi came next to her and they both started walking towards their high school. "Good morning Daichi-kun." Tsubasa said trying to fake a smile.

He figured out she forced herself to smiled to he put his hat on her head. "Take this." he said and she surprised widened her eyes. "You don't have to force yourself to smile when you're with me."

She smiled sadly. "Thank you.."

Soon they reached their high school. They entered inside the courtyard and the usual morning began.

"She actually came to school again?"

"I just don't get that girl. If I was her, I'd kill myself."

"It was better if she died instead of Mirai-san."

When the two of them were about to enter inside the building, Tsubasa stopped unable to enter. She felt like she was about to burst in tears anytime.

"Come on." Daichi said and took her hand. They started running. The bell rang in the background, but they could care less about losing classes.

They arrived on a park's playground. Tsubasa sat on a bench and clenched her fists, she hardly tried not to cry.

"You can cry if you want, you'll feel better." Daichi said and Tsubasa started crying, his hat was covering her face. She was crying silently, but his heart was breaking apart with every tear she shed. Without her noticing, he embraced her, she felt warm.

"I-I'm fine now.." she said sniffing.

He smiled and released her from his embrace. "I'm glad."

"Thank you Daichi-kun."

He grinned trying to gave her his strength. "You don't have to thank me for something like this. SO! Let's have some fun today since we'll be in trouble for skipping school anyway."

Tsubasa thought for a bit, she really needed a break. The school didn't start a long time ago, but everything she heard until now was already too much.

"Let's go get some ice-cream." she said smiling back.

"The last one to get to the store pays for both." Daichi said as he ran as fast as he could.

"Hey, not fair!"

**.**

**.**

**.**

"Thanks for paying for me too, though I lost.." Tsubasa said smiling gratefully to Daichi.

He put a hand on her head and smiled. "No problem, take care." he said and left Tsubasa alone in front of her house. She turned around and put a smile on her face as she walked in the house.

"I'm home." she announced taking off her shoes.

"Oh, Tsubasa. Come to the kitchen." the black-haired girl heard her dad calling.

She followed his words and went to the kitchen where he and her mother were standing at the table looking at each other with a serious look on their faces. May, as always, had dark circles.

"Something happened?" she asked taking a sit.

May had no intention of speaking, but Leon was already decided he will be the one to tell their daughter the news.

"Me and your mother decided something very important for us and our future." Tsubasa looked at them a bit afraid. "We decided to move to America, close to Kaleido Stage." Those words were like a lullaby for Tsubasa's ears. She already understood her mother needed a new beginning in her life and she herself needed one. "What do you think about it?"

"It's.. perfect!" Tsubasa jumped from her seat with a smile on her face.

Both Leon and May looked at each other surprised. "Is it really ok with you? You won't be able to see your friends anymore.. I don't want t be the bad guy Tsubasa, but you have to know everything this means."

Tsubasa thought about school and since she didn't get along with anyone, she was more than happy to transfer schools but.. Daichi. When she realized moving aboard mean that she won't be able to see Daichi anymore, Tsubasa's chest began to hurt. But no matter what, she can't let this interfere with her mother's happiness.

"Yea dad, it's perfect."

The two of them smiled. Seeing her mother's smile, Tsubasa couldn't help but smile too. Though inside, she was about to scream.

Tsubasa went upstairs in her room and threw herself in her bed. She hugged the pillow she received from Daichi a few years ago as a present for her birthday tightly. Tsubasa couldn't imagine how he'll react, but no matter what, she can't cry.

**XXX**

_'We'll be moving in two months.' _her father's words were still in her head. At first, Tsubasa thought she has plenty of time, but time passed so fast that there was only a day before they moved. And she didn't tell Daichi. They spent almost every second together from the past two months. They often slept at each other's house, went to every place and did everything they always wanted.

"Daichi.." Tsubasa said as they stopped in the playground of a park. She was looking at the ground unable to face him, it was dark outside. "I have to tell you something."

His cheeks begun to paint in red. "I-I also have something to tell you.."

"Please listen to me first!" Tsubasa said too loud, clenching her fists. "I.. " Daichi's heart begun to skip faster and faster. "I'll move to America."

And his heart stopped. He couldn't understand what she meant. "Is this a joke..?" he asked looking at the ground now. She raised her head serious to see his face. "What kind of stupid joke is this?!" he yelled at her.

"I.." she couldn't say anything anymore, she was about to burst into tears. "I'm leaving tomorrow." was the only thing she could say, but this was only digging the knife deeper in the wound.

Daichi was usually a calm person, unless there was a problem about Tsubasa. "Why didn't you tell me sooner?" he asked agitated putting his hands on each of Tsubasa's shoulders, forcing her to face him. He looked desperate, sad. She looked at him scared. He suddenly let go of her and turned around. "Fine."

Tsubasa was more than surprised to hear this single word. She thought she didn't hear correctly, but his actions were also surprising. Though she was more like her father and had a calm temperament, she also had moments when she was just like May. "What?!" she asked angry. "Fine? That's all you have to say?!" she transformed her sadness into anger. He didn't answer. "Fine than!" she yelled and left, she was unable to say goodbye.

**XXX**

"Tsubasa, we have to leave." Leon called her daughter as he held the taxi's door open. She came down as told with her bag in her hand. She looked pale. "Are you alright?" he asked worried.

Tsubasa snapped out of it and realized she was about to leave Japan, probably, forever. She turned one last time and watched her room's window and sighed, then turned to her dad and smiled. "Yes."

She stepped in the taxi next to her mother. Surprisingly, her mother was smiling again. She was holding a photo of her and a purple-haired girl. The two girls looked about 16, May had a grumpy yet happy face while the other girl was hugging her tightly.

"Who's that mom?" Tsubasa asked, thinking it was a good opportunity to make a conversation with her mother. They haven't been talking lately, less than usual at least.

"That's Sora, a good friend of mine and the best rival I ever had at Kaleido Stage." she said with a smile full of feelings looking at the picture.

"Sora.. " she repeated looking at the photo. "She's still at Kaleido Stage mom?"

She giggled. "I can't imagine Sora being somewhere else." Leon also giggled hearing this.

"What do you mean? " Tsubasa asked, this name was actually familiar. Maybe her father mentioned her when he was telling her and her sister stories about Kaleido Stage.

"You'll see when you'll meet her."

Tsubasa smiled. She felt that if she's gonna meet her mother's old friend, she'll be able to get closer to her mother. Also, she understood better why Leon decided to move close to Kaleido Stage. May had friends there, friends who'll support her.

"Are you going to perform again, mom?" she asked excited. Seeing her mother perform was one of her dreams, hers and Mirai's..

May shook her head. "I can't perform anymore Tsubasa, I'm already 35."

Tsubasa felt disappointed, but her mother's words didn't convinced her. She knew how much her mother loved the scene and that she won't be able to resist.

She looked out the window as they approached to the airport more and more. Tsubasa wondered what kind of life is she going to have from now on..


	4. Fool and Sora

**_Chapter 4. Fool and Sora  
_**

Tsubasa felt how someone touched her shoulder and begun shaking her gently.

"Tsubasa, we're here." a voice, which the black-haired girl recalled as being her father's, said with an obviously excitement.

The girl opened her eyes, blinking a few times. Though she refused to sleep at first, Tsubasa decided it was a good idea when she figured out she had seasick.

They arrived here by boat, since the plane was out of question from the beginning. It seems that her father carried her from the ship to their car and they were now in front of a house, Tsubasa on the backseat of their car.

As she stepped out, Tsubasa observed the weather was great. The blue sky was almost cloudless, a bright sunshine lightening everything. As she looked in front of her, she analyzed the house. It wasn't the same as the one they had back in Japan. This one was made of wood. It wasn't an unusual form, and it seemed quite welcoming. The garden that surrounded the house was also pretty big. In front of the house, on the right side, was a swing for two. Green grass and a lot of colorful flowers completed the picture of Tsubasa, May and Leon's new house.

"This is.." Tsubasa said looking surprised.

"Our new house." Leon completed. "Do you like it?"

May looked at her daughter, waiting for her response as she was about to enter the house.

"It's great dad! I love it!" she said running right in his arms. May smiled in the background and went in the house.

As Tsubasa and Leon stepped inside with their hands full of bags, May already begun looking around. It was a small hallway that welcomed them inside. At the end of it was the big living room. On the left side of the living room was the kitchen and on the right side, the stairs. Tsubasa went upstairs enthusiastic, dropping her bags on the floor.

At the end of the stairs was also a hallway with two doors on the right wall and one door on the left one. She entered in the one the left side. Their things were already here since they sent them a while ago. This room looked a bit different from the one she had back in Japan. It was the same furniture, except from the bed. It wasn't a double one, since before _that, _she shared the bed with her sister.

Tsubasa ignored the sad memories and headed to the big window from the wall in front of her. As she opened it, her eyes widened in surprise.

"Kaleido.. Stage." she heard herself saying. Right in front of her eyes was Kaleido Stage. It was just like she remembered it, Tsubasa couldn't help but smile.

"You remember it?" Leon came in the room without Tsubasa noticing.

She nodded. "Of course!"

Leon smiled. "Let's go eat something."

They went downstairs where May was waiting for them with some food on the table, in the kitchen.

May smiled as she saw Tsubasa, surprising her. "What's for lunch mom?"

"Cold food. I'm sorry, I didn't have time to warm it up." she replied sitting down.

"It's ok May." Leon said smiling.

The atmosphere was different from the one they usually had on their rare times when they ate together. It was a warm atmosphere.

Suddenly, a knock on the door surprised them. "I'm wondering who might be.." Tsubasa said, they just came here.

"It's no surprise." May said as an anger vein popped on her forehead. She looked to her husband. "I thought we wouldn't tell her when we arrive."

"Well, I didn't say a word." he said rising his shoulders innocently.

Tsubasa was wondering whom they were talking about. May got up from her seat and went to open the door.

"May!" a loud, feminine voice called out. That's what Tsubasa heard along with a loud crash.

The girl, along with her father, got up from the table and went to the hallway. Leon smiled seeing the scene at the end on the hallway.

"Sora, get off me!" May called out.

A purple-haired girl was above Tsubasa's mother, both of them collapsed on the floor. The unknown woman's arms were wrapped around May's neck.

"I missed you so much, I can't believe you're back!" the woman named Sora continued ignoring May's request.

"Come on Sora, let her breath for a moment." Leon approached to her and gave Sora his hand, helping her to get up. Afterwards, he took May's body and helped her stand.

The black-haired woman sighed, but smiled back when she saw Sora smiling at her. "Come in." May said guiding her to the living room.

Before Sora arrived in the living room, she spotted Tsubasa. "You're Tsubasa-chan, right?" she asked smiling gently.

Tsubasa analyzed her. Her hair was tied in a high bun, two bangs falling over each side of her face. Her eyes were brown and full of life. That's when Tsubasa realized it was May's friend and rival from Kaleido Stage. She was surprised. It meant that she was about her mother's age, but she looked like she was 20. It seems that time was generous with her.

"Yes!" she answered fast, realizing she started too much.

Sora smiled. "I'm Sora Naegino, nice to meet you! I heard so many things of you, it feels great to finally meet you."

"It's me who is honoured!" Tsubasa took Sora's hands and looked at her with sparkle in her eyes. "I finally have the chance to meet the star of Kaleido Stage. I also heard a lot about you but at first I didn't even recognize you, I can't believe I'm so clueless Sora-san."

"You really are honest." she giggled. "Please, don't be so formal. Call me Sora, ok, Tsubasa-chan?" Sora smiled and replied.

Tsubasa followed the three adults on the sofa from the living room. May was sitting on a chair on the right side of the sofa. The three girl were sitting on the couch, Tsubasa between them.

"Honestly Sora, how did you know we arrived?" May asked sighing as she rested her chin in her palm.

"Well, that's because I saw you." she answered smiling innocently.

May raised an eyebrow as Leon looked away. "What do you me-"

"I live there." Sora interrupted May and answered, pointing to the window from their living room. A house could be seen there, a house very familiar to May.

"What?!" May was surprised and as she looked at Leon, she figured out he planned everything from the beginning. "Traitor." she glared at her husband.

"We have so many things to talk about. Did you cut your hair?" Sora asked enthusiastic.

"Yea." May answered. Indeed, her hair was now about shoulder's length. She, compared to Sora, looked much more older. There were black circles around her eyes. "Anyway, how's Hana?"

"She is incredible! She just finished the gymnast courses and begun taking courses for the trampoline." Sora said proud.

"Uhm.. who is Hana?" Tsubasa asked looking confused at the two womans.

"My daughter." Sora's expression became even more gentle as she said those two words.

"Really? You have a daughter?!" Tsubasa asked excited, getting up from the sofa. Her eyes were sparkling.

Sora giggled. "Yes, I do. She's 14."

Before Tsubasa could say anything else, she looked above Sora's shoulder and something unexpected happened.

The black-haired raised her finger and pointed to Sora's left shoulder. "G-G-G-G-"

"Are you ok. Tsubasa?" May asked looking worried at her daughter.

"G-G-G-G-G-" she tried to stutter as her face became purple, she was scared to death. "GHOST! A GHOST!" she yelled pointing to a small, floating doll which was above Sora's shoulder.

Sora looked at the small doll above her shoulder and then at Tsubasa. This really caught her off guard.

"What are you talking about Tsubasa?" May asked wanting to approach to her daughter to check her temperature but Sora caught Tsubasa wrist before she could do so.

"Hahaha, say Tsubasa-chan, do you want to meet Hana?" Tsubasa couldn't say anything anymore, she was terrified by the floating doll in front of her which was now smirking."I know you do! Say Leon, May, I can take Tsubasa-chan to my house, right? Right? Thanks!" the two parents couldn't answer because Sora already ran away with their daughter, leaving them with question marks floating round their heads.

As soon as the two girls along with the floating doll arrived in Sora's house, between hard breaths Sora managed to ask the girl. "Y-You.. you can see him?" the purple-haired woman asked pointing to the 'ghost'.

Still terrified, Tsubasa nodded. "W-W-Why do I see.. a g-g-ghost?"

Sora looked surprised at the doll. "Let's go in the living room, Tsubasa-chan." she wanted to drag the girl along with her but when Tsubasa saw that the 'ghost' as coming with them, she didn't move. "Don't worry, he's harmless."

Her gentle smile made Tsubasa trust her so, along with the doll, the three of them went in the living room and sat on the couch.

"Ok Tsubasa-chan, what I'm gonna tell you might sound crazy, but it's the truth. This little thing here," she pointed again to the doll.

"Hey, I'm not a 'little thing'." he protested.

Tsubasa backed off. "HE CAN TALK!"

Sora sighed. "I'll explain everything to you Tsubasa-chan, so don't worry. Like I said, this.. " the little ghost glared at her. " .. 'ghost', is not actually a ghost."

"I am Fool, The Spirit of the Scene!" he interrupted Sora, presenting himself. "Only those who are chosen for the stage can see me, and you my dear, are a surprise."

Tsubasa had a poker face. "Chosen for the stage? What do you mean? Wait.. am I talking to a floating doll?" Tsubasa begun laughing awkwardly. "Oh Tsubasa, you start losing your minds. Hahahahaha.."

"You're not crazy Tsubasa-chan, he's right." Sora said smiling, which brought Tsubasa back to earth and made her face reality.

Fool approached to her and she backed off as much as she could, until she fell off the couch. "You know, you're quite cute." he said watching her on the floor.

Anime tears started falling over Tsubasa's cheeks. "The first person to call me cute is not even a person, but a ghost."

"Fool, stop scaring her!" Sora took him in her hand and wrapped him in some rope. Plus, a tissue to make him unable to speak. "Now that's perfect!" she said throwing Fool on the air. Luckily, he could fly. "Are you ok, Tsubasa-chan? Is your head ok?" she asked the girl who was back on the couch.

Tsubasa was rubbing her head which hurt a bit. "My head is ok, I don't know what to say about my mind.."

"If you listen, I can explain everything to you." Sora smiled gently. Tsubasa nodded. "Like he said to you, only those chosen for stage can see him."

"What do you mean by 'those chosen for stage'?" the little girl was confused.

"If you can see him, it means that the stage chosen you. It's like.. fate? The fact that you, Leon and May moved back here might not be only a coincidence, maybe fate brought you here so you will be able to get to know what the stage means."

"I'm still confused Sora.." Tsubasa continued embarrassed.

"It's ok, I'll try to explain it to you better. When I first came to Kaleido Stage, I was also able to see him but I was the only one. I learned what it means to be on the stage, what is truly important on the stage and why you have to be there, what is your duty. I loved the scene from the beginning, and even though I also thought it was the weirdest thing to see a spirit, I was quite happy that I was chosen for the stage. "

"But.. I never thought about joining Kaleido Stage. After all, I don't have any talent."

Sora was surprised to hear this. "Are you sure?"

Than, she remembered. The ice; ice-skating. She bit her lip. Ever since her sister's accident. she didn't skate anymore. She was afraid to. "Ice.. " she unconsciously said. "Ice-skating."

Sora smiled. "May used to tell me in every letter how talented you and your sister are." Tsubasa's expression changed, she was smiling sadly. "Oh, I'm sorry! I guess I shouldn't have-"

"No, it's ok." she stopped her. "I.. I like to talk about my sister, but I can't. Mom is very sensitive now, dad is always by her side and I sometimes think that she may hate me. Now, she seems better but a few months ago she wouldn't even speak with me once a week. Oh, sorry, I guess you don't care about something like this.."

"No, please continue. I'm really happy to see that you can talk about Mirai. Vut please, don't say that May hates you, because I'm sure she loves you more then anything.. "

As her sister's name slipped out of Sora's lips, Tsubasa smiled. Mirai.. she haven't heard this name in a while.

"I was really proud of her. She won the Olympics and fulfilled her dream, she was my idol. We both loved the ice, but in different ways. I couldn't compete for the ice, I never wanted to fight on ice. I.. I hate fighting, I hate all the sadness and sorrow around me, but on the ice I could forget everything. I was the happiest on the ice, that's why I decided to not compete and only skate as a hobby."

Sora smiled, Tsubasa reminded of herself. "Now I understand why you were chosen."

Tsubasa was surprised. "Why? Please tell me Sora. I don't know what I'm supposed to do!"

"You don't have to know now. Your heart will tell you everything you want to know at the right time, you just have to listen to it."

"Mhmgdsgm!" Fool tried to say with the tissue still shoved in his mouth.

"I guess Fool wants to tell you something." Soa giggled and took the tissue out of his mouth.

"Sora, I can't believe that even after all these years you didn't learn how to treat the great Spirit of Stage."

"Hai,hai." Sora said without giving importance.

Fool looked at Tsubasa, she was still scared. "Don't fear me, my dear. I have to tell you something very important. You have the potential to perform a legendary manoeuvre."

Sora raised her eyebrows. "You mean the one I and Layla-san performed?"

Fool shook his head. "No, there are hundred other manoeuvres Sora."

"What is a legendary manoeuvre?" Tsubasa asked confused.

Sora got up from the couch and searched something in the drawer behind the TV. "Here it is!" Sora said victorious as she held a CD. She put it in the DVD and turned on the TV.

"Watch this Tsubasa-chan, and you'll understand."

Tsubasa looked curious at the TV. She saw a girl with purple-hair, which she figured out it was Sora. She didn't change almost at all since than, she had the same eyes full of life. Tsubasa also saw another girl with blonde, long hair. She was gorgeous.

"That is Layla-san." Sora said without Tsubasa asking.

Her blue eyes widened. "You mean the one who plays on Broadway?!"

Sora nodded and smiled. "We were partners."

"I didn't know she performed at Kaleido Stage." Tsubasa said. She realized she actually didn't know a lot of things about Kaleido Stage. She only knew that there was no ice-rink or anything like that and that her mother gave up skating for Kaleido Stage. She didn't want to give up ice-skating, so she didn't bother to find more about Kaleido Stage.

The two girls started swing, holding the trapeze tight. Tsubasa remembered she also saw a trapeze act when she was 9 and came to Kaleido Stage.

Tsubasa watched the performance holding her breath. "You're.. flying."

Sora smiled, remembering that time. How long has it been..

When the act ended and Sora turned the TV off, Tsubasa couldn't look away. Her mouth was open and she didn't even blink. "Tsubasa-chan?"

"I.." she tried to say. She got on her feet and looked confident in Sora's eyes. "I want to perform this kind of act Sora! I really, really want to."

Sora and Fool looked at each other smiling, a new star was about to be born.


	5. Wish

**A/N:** Thank you so much for your reviews! I'm so glad you liked the chapter. :)

_Xxdreamergirl95xX: _First of all. Are you from Romania? Cause I am too XD Anyway, I'm happy you liked the chapter and thank you for the review!

_Cloud Strife final fantasy VII: _I'm really sorry for the late updates (once a month, sometimes even harder) but high school is killing me -.-. I hope this is soon enough!

_Blue-Inked Frost:_ You honestly have no idea how happy your review made me. I'm so glad I was able to make someone smile.

_Guest: _The two of them will surely get along a lot better, but it's kind of hard for a mother who lost her daughter, and since Tsubasa is her twin, it's even harder. And of course I'll add some MayxLeon fluffiness soon.

Now, I kind of have a question/request for you all. Why don't you write some Kaleido fanfics? I mean, there are few fanfics, and I'd really love to see some new ones. Just sayin', I don't know XD It's up to you, I just wanted to give you an idea.

* * *

_**Chapter 5. Wish**_

"Hihihi." Tsubasa vaguely heard a pervert laugh. She barely woke up, she didn't even open her eyes but something was tickling her belly.

Slowly and confused, she opened her eyes. As the blue-eyed girl blinked a few times, she recalled a light-green-haired doll looking at her bare belly. Without realizing what's going on, she rubbed her eyes and finally realized the situation. Fool, the Spirit of the Scene wasn't staring at her belly, but at her chest. To be more precise, at her bra. He had the most perverted look on his face, red cheeks colouring his pale face. It seems that Tsubasa's night blouse somehow opened and revealed now her bra.

"AAA!" The first reaction Tsubasa had, after her face got all red, was taking the tiny, floating ghost in her hand and throw him as hard as she could right on the mirror. She fast covered her body with the blanket.

"Tsubasa-chan!" in the next moment, Sora came in and opened the door fast. As she saw Tsubasa covering herself with the blanket and Fool being glued to the mirror, she realized she came too late.

"S-Sora.."

She sighed. "I guess I was too late.. "

"What-"

"It seems that this little, perverted bug here escaped from the drawer last night and came here. I even forgot to warn you last night.. but I guess you figured out he's the biggest pervert in the world." she gave a frightful look to Fool, now on the floor. He was way too happy to say anything else now. He already saw the paradise. Though it was only her bra, since Sora became able to see him, he wasn't able to see even some girl in bikini which was worse than any torture.

"S-S-Sora.." May appeared on the room too, slamming the door. She was looking angry at Sora breathing hard.

"Oh.. May, good morning!" Sora smiled cheerfully from her place next to Tsubasa on the bed.

"Don't 'good morning' me like this after you ran here and slammed all the doors from this house! Some people are sleeping at this hour!" May was angry, very angry but Sora smiled.

"Hahaha, you're right. My fault." the purple-haired woman said rubbing the back of her neck.

Tsubasa looked at the two woman. Even though May was angry, Tsubasa was happy. First, because her anger faded away fast. Two, because since her sister's death, May didn't show too many emotions. And anger was an emotion too, right?

May sighed and as Tsubasa observed, her anger faded away. "Morning Tsubasa." she smiled to her daughter, which surprised her. "I think we should let her change, come down for a coffee Sora and we'll talk about you behaviour too!"

Sora smiled. "Hai, hai!" she got up from the bed and followed May. Before closing the door, fast as light, Sora put the TV above Fool's hair, making him unable to move nor see anything.

"Hahaha Sora!" Fool laughed devilishly after Sora closed the door. "This won't stop me a second time, I've learned how to escape from this kind of situation!" He moved his head from left to right a few times and, as said, he escaped.

The next moment, Sora came back and took him in her hand. "You'd wish you wouldn't." she whispered, squeezing him.

"Sora, are you coming?" May called from downstairs.

"Coming!" she answered. "Don't fear Tsubasa-chan, I'll take care of him."

It took the black-haired girl a moment to actually wake up. She wasn't a morning person at all and this kind of morning wasn't, thank God, something normal. Tsubasa slowly walked to along the hallway to the bathroom on the same etage and did her morning routine, changing into her usual blue pair of shorts and light-blue, summer blouse adding some ankle-length, white socks. She tied her hair in the usual high pony-tail and went downstairs.

The girl went downstairs and found her mother and Sora chatting over a cup of coffee in the living room. The TV was open as well as the window, the atmosphere being very comfortable.

"Oh, Tsubasa-chan. I'm glad you changed so quickly." Sora said smiling brighter than usual, flowers blooming all over her face.

"Sora, where is it F-" the younger girl stopped, as she already figured out the answer. Fool was tied by the table's leg, almost unable to breath due to the strength Sora obviously put in the knot.

As she approached the couch and, implicitly, Fool, Tsubasa saw a begging expression on his face.

"Tsubasa, my hero! Please save me, I can't breathe!"

The blue-eyed girl looked at him suspiciously, raising an eyebrow. She was still angry by what he did earlier and how he woke her up.

"Is something wrong, Tsubasa?" May asked seeing as her daughter was looking at the table with an unusual interest.

"No mom, everything's fine. " she smiled and sat down on the armchair next to the couch. Her mother saw her putting her hands on her lap, but she actually put them under the table. As the two womans went back to their chat, Tsubasa begun writing letter in her left palm with her index, right finger.

'Ghosts don't need to breath.' Fool deciphered.

"I told you I'm not a ghost!" he shouted back.

Sora and Tsubasa wanted to burst out laughing, but instead, because of May's presence, the two of them smiled brightly at the black-haired woman.

"Ok you two. What are you hiding from me?" she asked crossing her arms. If there was one thing May hated in this world, it was secrets.

Tsubasa was caught off guard. She had no idea whether she should tell her mother about Fool, but after seeing Sora's worried expression that obviously said 'don't even think about it', she decided not to. After all, how could she tell May that she's able to see a ghost who claims to be 'The Great Spirit of the Stage' without expecting to not think her daughter went insane? Definitely, she's not going to tell her this.

"Hahaha.. there's nothing mom, what are you thinking?" Tsubasa tried to say laughing stupidly.

Lying was Tsubasa's weakest spot. She was the worst liar in the world and she knew this too well. Seeing as her mother still eyed her suspiciously, she fast thought about something to change the subject. "Is this cola? Can I take a sip? Thanks!"

"No, that's co-" May begun but Tsubasa's face already turned green from the bitter taste. "-ffee." she sighed and finished her sentence.

Tsubasa hardly swallowed the bitter coffee she hated so much. "Haha..ha.." she continued rubbing the back of her head.

"Tsubasa. If you have a problem, you know you can talk to me anytime, right?" May continued feeling guilty. She realized she kind of neglected Tsubasa since.. than.

Seeing her mother's eyes, Tsubasa decided to tell her the truth; but not the one about Fool. Also, Sora spotting her now determinate eyes, she thought she is going to tell May about their little ghost-pet, but what she said was way worse.

"Mom." she made a pause. "I want to join Kaleido Stage."

A big silence fell over the three of them.

Sora was also speechless. Thought Tsubasa didn't put it into words, the purple-haired woman figured out this thought flashed the younger girl's mind, but she didn't expect her to have already decide everything. The performer looked to her right side at Tsubasa, than to her left side at May, than back to Tsubasa and then back to May again. The silence made everything even harder.

"Hey, why don't we-" Sora wanted to break the silence, but May begun harshly.

"I won't allow something like this."

Tsubasa was surprised. She didn't think her mother would allow her so easy to drop school and go join a circus, but she didn't either expect her to say no from the start. After all, it wasn't just a circus, it was the circus May spent the most wonderful part of her life.

"Why?" Tsubasa asked, clenching on her shorts tighter.

"Because I won't allow it."

Tsubasa figured out her mother would not tell her the true reason. "But why?! I really want to join it mom!" she jumped from the armchair and looked at her mother straight. Sora was watching the scene with worry.

May stood silent for a moment. "You're too young to be thinking about something like this. I think you should focus on your studies."

Tsubasa has never been the best student. Actually, she was at the bottom of the class while her sister was always on the top. Her mother never actually paid attention to her studies, since she knew that Tsubasa and Mirai would have a brighter future than any studies could give them. But now, why did she use such an excuse?

"You don't understand anything!" she yelled and run outside the house, leaving May and Sora alone.

May lowered her head, her hair making Sora unable to see her expression.

"May.." her friend begun. "Why don't you wanna listen to what Tsubasa-chan wants to say?"

"I'm afraid.." she whispered in reply. "I.. I don't want to lose her too."

Sora looked at May confused. "What do you mean 'lose her'?" She knew that May was conscious Kaleido Stage wasn't a dangerous place, so why?

Tears falling covered May's face. "I.. " she covered her eyes with her hands. "I could never risk to lose her to.. Can you understand, Sora? I could never live without her."

Seeing and hearing her best friend, Sora couldn't do anything but gently wrap her arms around her shoulders and let May's head rest on her shoulder. She put one hand on her head and begun patting it slowly, as her friend's tears were falling over and over.

**XXX**

Tsubasa was running, but she had no idea where. When she got tired, she realized she was on the bridge that led to Kaleido Stage. The teenager stopped on a bench on that bridge and wiped her tears. She looked at the cloudless, morning sky. There was almost no one around, only few people running or walking here and there.

She was too angry on her mother, so she was thinking about Kaleido Stage. As she turned her sighed to her left side, where the circus was, she remembered the legendary maneuver performed by Sora and Layla. Her body begun to tremble again, this sensation never left her and neither let her sleep too well last night. Tsubasa got up, she felt like she can't stay here anymore. She had to do something, something that would satisfy her thirst.

The black-haired girl ran to Kaleido Stage, expecting to find her father. She wanted to talk with him about this.

As she arrived in front of the circus, at the big entrance, she simply entered inside. Confused, Tsubasa walked along an enormous hallway, until she found two big doors. She opened them and found herself standing in front of some enormous stairs. At the end of the stairs, she spotted it; the scene.

She slowly walked downstairs, taking every step carefully as she never looked at the stairs but at the scene. The whole place was amazingly enormous. As she finally reached that place, her heart begun to beat even faster; it wasn't a simple stage, but an ice stage. Her heart was almost running out of her chest. She wanted to get on the ice so badly, but she had no ice-skates.

Tsubasa looked around and figured out there was no one, maybe it was due to the early hour. She decided to look around for some skates. It was impossible not to find at least one pair. No that she wanted to steal them, she'll just borrow them.

Finding the perfect plan, Tsubasa walked towards a door she saw. As she walked along a narrow hallway, she saw a door. Of course, she entered inside but not before she peaked inside to see if there was someone. Luckily, the circus was all empty.

It seemed that the room Tsubasa just found was the locker room; this was indeed a good day. There was a long but not wide table in the middle of the room. On each side of the room were tables with individual mirrors. The room was a total mess; magazines all over, dresses and costumes thrown over the chairs and some of them even on the floor. In front of every mirror were a lot of make-up kits. As she carefully walked on the room, trying not to move a single thing from its place, she spotted a pair of white ice skates; God indeed fell in love with her.

She took the pair in her hand and wanted to leave, when she also saw a white, shirt dress dropped on the floor. Looking around some more, especially at the make-up, she imagined a perfect make-up and hair-style that would match the dress.

'Guess that if they were on the floor, the owner don't really mind if I borrow them a little while.'

As Tsubasa first checked the time, seeing it was almost 8 am, she decided to hurry with the make-up and hairstyle. She knew well that the program here starts at 9 am, as she often heard her father talking with her mother on the phone and complaining about the early hour.

Tsubasa put some black eye-shadow, peach-color lipstick and some blush on. She made of her hair some pig-tails and tied them in a gorgeous bun, letting a few bangs from the back of her neck falling messy over her shoulders. The hair-style was completed by a white camellia, put on the left side of the bun. She quickly changed into the very short, yet not vulgar, white dress. It was a strapless, molded one. Above the molded dress was an almost transparent, full of diamonds veil which started from where the dress also did and almost touched her ankles, but when Tsubasa moved, the veil was also floating.

As the black-haired girl took one glance in the mirror before taking the ice-skates in her hand, she was amazed by how changed she was. She looked so much like her sister whenever she went on contests. The only difference was the eye color.

Tsubasa hurried to the stage. It was already 8.15 pm, so she decided to enjoy every second. She fast put on her skates and stepped on the stage. At first, she was about to fall but she fast regained her balance.

And than, the magic started.

**XXX**

A tall, grey-haired man opened the door and stood still there, looking at the stage, unable to move an inch. What was he seeing; was it an illusion? a dream?

He couldn't believe.

"Mirai.." he whispered unconsciously.

A girl's silhouette was flying on the ice stage. Her body was moving so gracefully; she made a double axel, triple axel, she was spinning over here and there, she even jumped in the air, making a tumble as she hugged her legs, and landed perfectly on the ice. Her body was so thin and she was moving just like a caterpillar that just transformed into a butterfly; it was like she felt freedom for the first time. She wasn't just skating, there was something magically about her.

The man watching amazed was Alexei Kvarski; a professional ice-skater from Russia. He was invited to Kaleido Stage a few days ago due to his exceptional skills acknowledged all over Russia.

He was Mirai's secret partner. Whenever Mirai had free time, which was rarely anyway, instead of resting, she would go in the forest and meet him. They would train together, because Mirai had two dreams; to win the Olympics for her country and one that only Alexei knew about. While he watched the girl on the stage skating, his heart started to ache. He put a hand on his heart and closed his eyes for a single moment to regain consciousness, and she disappeared. He looked all over for her, but since everything seemed impossible, he decided to head back. He definitely wasn't in the best mentally state.

**XXX**

On the other side of the stage, far in the darkness, another person was hiding, watching the girl's performance. His eyes never left her silhouette. It was Kalos, the director of Kaleido Stage.

As the girl finished her performance with a pirouette, she got panicked and left the stage fast. Kalos was wondering who the girl was, but he was sure as hell he wasn't going to let her escape.

**XXX**

As Tsubasa stopped on the middle of the stage, her heart beating like crazy, she realized that time flew by in a blink of eye. She got panicked and left the stage as soon as possible. Running to the lockers, she took off the skates on the way. Tsubasa entered in the room and, luckily, there was no one. As she sighed in relief and ready to undress, she heard voices; and they were coming this way.

"And like I was saying.." a girl was talking to another one.

The two girls stopped as soon as they entered in the room. There was a moment of silence.

"This is weird, isn't it Charlotte?"

"Yea, I think so too Julie. In this place, it smells like.."

"Hair spray." Charlotte completed.

Tsubasa face-palmed slowly. How could she use hair spray in a place like this? But it was necessary for the bun. The black-haired ice-skater was now hiding under one of the tables, holding her breath as much as she could.

"Where's my pair of skates?" Julie asked.

Tsubasa fast took off the skates and threw them in front of the two girls.

"There they are!" Charlotte said. "How come you didn't see them?"

Tsubasa sighed. She slowly begun moving under the tables. Slowly, as the girl begun changing, Tsubasa managed to arrive at the last table. Now, if only she could open the door and get out without the two of them noticing. Of course she would return the dress later, but for now, she should get out of here without anyone noticing.

Right when Tsubasa was about to touch the knob, someone knocked on the door making the girls sight go right to it. She fast withdrew her hand.

"Yes?" Charlotte asked.

"It's me." Leon said coming in.

"Oh, Leon-san." Julie said smiling.

"I was wondering if you-" he couldn't finish his sentence, because he saw a scene you can only see one in a lifetime. His daughter, the clumsy one, was dressed and styled like a princess and hid under a table staying on her knees. Not to mention her priceless expression. Keeping himself from laughing, he coughed a few times and got a serious look.

"I think Ken was looking for you two." he said pointing outside.

"Really? Let's go than Charlotte." Julie said as the two of them left the room.

Tsubasa got up from the floor and stood guilty in front of her father. "How grounded am I?" she asked looking at the floor.

Seeing her fully, Leon couldn't help but admit that she looked a lot like her sister, Mirai. He though Tsubasa was never going to skate again, but seeing her in those clothes, he kind of figured out what happened.

"We'll talk about this after you tell me what were you doing here, young lady." he said with a serious tone.

Tsubasa looked at him and saw a gentle smile on his face. She couldn't help but smile back.

* * *

**A/N: **Yea, another author note XD Damn, I wanted to update sooner but I guess this is better than a month or two. I know Alexei's introduction was poorly, but I couldn't find any other way to present him. He'll be an important person, as he'll be Tsubasa's partner and.. I won't spoileeer !

Anyway, hope you liked it. :)


	6. Determination

_**Chapter 6.**_ _**Determination**_

"I understand." Leon stated after hearing his daughter's wish, crossing his arms.

"So, will you help me papa? Pleaseeee." the black-haired girl decided to use her puppy eyes.

The two of them were in a restaurant in town. The weather was warm, the morning sun shining brightly and few people were chatting happily around them. Tsubasa's ice-cream was melting as she was too concentrated on her father's reaction.

"How do you plan to join Kaleido Stage?" Leon opened his eyes and looked at his daughter with a different expression. It was like he was seeing her as a stranger, which made Tsubasa's enthusiasm slow down.. for a moment. The determination appeared again in those big, light-blue eyes .

"Well.. I.. " she looked around stressed, what must she do to be accepted? "What did you do to join, papa?"

"The director invited me due to my career, it was a special cause. But you are not a special cause Tsubasa, you must take the audition like any other performer." his eyes were still cold. "I tell you this as I am your father. I know you have talent, to be honest, you are something I have never seen; you have so much potential." Tsubasa smiled confident, her father wasn't the kind of person to praise someone easily, moreover when it came to performers. "Yet, you don't have the necessary training. The auditions are in two days from tomorrow on. Even if I'd train you, there is no enough time."

"But we can start right now! Two days are enough, I will do everything you say without complaining." Tsubasa fast answered, trying to stop her father from saying the words she feared the most. She knew well that once her father said 'no', there was no way to convince him.

"This is not a joke Tsubasa; if you choose this path, you will have many obstacles to overcome. You are still young, are you sure you will be able to face all of them without ever saying you want to give up?"

Without a second thought, Tsubasa answered confident. "Yes." her lips curved into a confident smile.

Leon's serious expression changed; he smiled gently at his daughter. "As expected from my daughter."

Tsubasa smiled brighter. Her father believed in her all along.

"Follow me." Leon said as he put some money on the table and left. Tsubasa did so, walking behind her father excited. She looked at his back and realized how much he changed. She saw a photo of him in his younger years, when he first came at Kaleido Stage; his hair was almost as long as hers now back then, but for a while now he kept it short.

"Where are we going?" Tsubasa asked after her father has driven some time without saying a word.

"Cape Mary Ice-Skating Center." he answered he stopped the car in front of a big building. Tsubasa was ready to take off the seat belt, but she stopped.

"Papa, what about-"

"I will talk with her about this." Leon cut her off, knowing that his daughter worried about May.

"Thank you." she smiled and climbed off of the car.

"Oh, one more thing." Leon said before the two of them would walk to the building. Tsubasa raised an eyebrow. "No questions. Understood?"

Tsubasa blinked in surprise but nodded.

Walking next to each other the two of them entered in the building. As they headed to the lobby, Leon spotted a familiar figure on the ice, helping a little kid.

"Meryl." he stated.

A blonde woman, around the age of 45 turned her head and looked at the two of them. "Leon." she also called out. The woman stepped out of the ice and looked at Leon smiling. "Long time no see. What brings you here?"

"This is my daughter, Tsubasa." he said pointing to his right side where Tsubasa watched confused.

Meryl looked at her surprised. "So she is the little Tsubasa May told me about. God, she's bigger than I expected, it makes me feel old." Leon and her smiled at the small joke. "My name is Meryl, it's nice to meet you Tsubasa."

"I-It's nice meeting you too!" the teenager said taking her hand and shaking it.

"I have a favor to ask of you Meryl." Leon continued.

"As I figured out. So, what is it?" the blonde woman asked. To Tsubasa, she seemed a gentle person but she still couldn't understand what were they doing here. Maybe Leon is gonna use this rink to train her and wants Meryl to rent it to him.

"I'd like you to train Tsubasa. She wants to take the audition for Kaleido Stage."

Tsubasa's eyes widened in surprise, didn't Leon say he will train her?

Meryl looked at Tsubasa suspicious, from head to toe, making her nervous. "Oh, I understand. I guess it's not surprising since she's May's daughter that she wants to learn ice-skating. How much experience does she have?"

"None." Leon answered short, making Tsubasa embarrassed.

Meryl sighed. "How come I knew you're gonna say this? Anyway, I'd like to see her skating. I shall decided then if I will train her."

Leon nodded and then looked at Tsubasa, both of them waiting for her answer. "Y-Yes!" she answered fast. "But, I don't have my skates here."

Meryl walked out of the lobby and came back in a few moment with a pair of white skates, just like Tsubasa's. "Are these fine?"

Tsubasa sat down and put them on. They were fitting perfectly. "Yes, thank you." she smiled back.

As the black-haired girl stepped on the ice, she observed that the rink was empty. Though, there still were people on the lobby. Still dressed in the pair of shorts and the blue blouse, she went in the middle of the ice.

As she realized she should have already started, Tsubasa figured out that she had no idea what she should do, how she should skate to satisfy Meryl. Before she could get panicked she decided to just do as she did at Kaleido Stage. And so, Tsubasa begun imagining herself as being a swan. Graceful, gentle, beautiful.

She put her hands up her head, in an 'O' position. Moving her legs, Tsubasa begun skating backwards. She made two lutz and a camel spin. It wasn't that her jumps were that great, but something about her performance made Meryl unable to blink. The blonde woman couldn't see anything but a swan; a beautiful swan taking its flight, a swan hurt, falling down, a swan standing still.

As Tsubasa stopped in the middle of the ice-rink, arms wrapped around her and her chest going up and down. As soon as she opened her eyes and looked nervous at Meryl, she had a satisfied look on her face. Tsubasa felt her heart lightening.

"H-How was it?" she asked looking at Meryl.

"Awful." she said with a serious look. Tsubasa was stunned, was her performance that horrible? "Listen, whom were you performing for ?"

Tsubasa thought for a bit. "For you.." she answered insecure.

"That was the mistake. You thought that if you perform for me, I will be entertained and made everything to entertain me." Tsubasa nodded, Meryl was clearly reading her mind. "It's wrong. You have to perform for nobody else but you. Wether you are at a contest or at Kaleido Stage, if you want a future in ice-skating, you always have to perform for you." Tsubasa listened confusing. "Do you like skating?" Meryl asked crossing her arms.

Tsubasa nodded. "Yes, I love skating." a smile appeared on her face.

Meryl smiled. "That's good. If you perform for you and you are happy, the audience will also be happy. Don't get me wrong, the audience is what makes a performer a professional, but if you want a happy audience, you have to make happy yourself first. "

Tsubasa listened carefully and Meryl smiled. "We're starting right now."

The teenager's eyes widened. "Do you mean you are gonna train me, miss Meryl?" a hopefully smile appeared on her face.

The blonde nodded. "Yes, but you better be ready. Oh, I have three rules." the brunette nodded. "First, no questions. Second, I don't ever want to hear 'I give up' from you or see you running away. If you can't promise me that, you'd better leave now. " Meryl said turning around.

"I promise!" Tsubasa said fast.

Meryl smiled satisfied. "And the last one; no formalities. Call me Meryl." she said turning back around, facing the girl.

Tsubasa looked at her father and they smiled at each other. Leon gave a nod and left, while Tsubasa shouted a 'thank you'

"Now, go back to the ice. We are first gonna see how high you can jump and your body's state." Tsubasa nodded, though she didn't understand what she was supposed to do. Seeing her getting confused, Meryl sighed and put her hands on her hips. "Show me your highest jump."

"Oh, sure." Tsubasa said and went on one corner of the rink.

She speed up and jumped, making a spin and half. She had no idea how high she jumped, but she knew this was the highest she was able to do at the moment.

"Not even half a meter, that's the highest you can?" Meryl shouted from the other side of the rink with anger. Her eyebrows narrowed.

Tsubasa didn't answer but tried another spin. She put her hands in front of her chest in X and focused her strength in her legs.

"_Too low again." _the girl thought as she landed on the ice.

"What are you doing?" Meryl asked as Tsubasa tried to stop and try another spin.

"Try again." the brunette answered.

Meryl nodded and continued watching the girl as she tried many times landing a higher jump. She lost count at thirty.

**.**

**.**

**.**

At the end of the day, Tsubasa's jumps got better. She could jump almost a meter above the rink, but she could barely stand on her feet.

"That's enough of it." as soon as Meryl said this, Tsubasa fell on the rink.

Her legs were trembling and her hands froze on the cold ice, but she couldn't move. She was exhausted.

Tsubasa couldn't exactly tell what time it was, but she knew she came here early in the morning and now it was twilight.

"Come here." the woman shouted as she was at the entrance on the rink. Hardly, Tsubasa got up and approached Meryl. "You don't have a good body state. Take off your skates."

The brunette sat on a bench and did so. She was so relieved believing that she could go home now.

"Follow me." Meryl said walking out of the room where the ice-rink was. Tsubasa followed her confused as they stepped in a room, smaller than the other but still big. It looked like a gym full of strange machines. "Make pull-ups."

Remembering her promise of never giving up, Tsubasa nodded. "Yes."

After three hours, Meryl finally allowed her to stop. As soon as she stopped and tried to get up, Tsubasa felt dizzy. It was not until she made a step that Tsubasa felt herself falling.. and she lost consciousness.

**XXX**

"Tsubasa." she heard her name and recognized the voice; it was her father.

Tsubasa slowly opened her eyes, the bright sun was making it hard for her to fully open them. As she took a few moments for herself to recall the last memory she had, her father put his hand on her forehead.

"Looks like you're not sick, it seems that Meryl indeed kept her promise."

At the sound of this name, Tsubasa opened her eyes wide and jumped from her bed, throwing the blanket away.

"What time it is?!"

"10 am."

Tsubasa fast took out her usual pair of blue shorts and dark-blue blouse, put them on and grabbed her father's wrist.

"Why didn't you wake me up earlier dad?! No, don't tell me, not now. Come on, you have to take me to the ice-skating center!"

Without a word, Leon nodded and went downstairs with his daughter. The road was fast as Leon told her what happened last night. It seems that she collapsed due to the exhaustion and Leon carried her home.

That day, Meryl didn't say too much. She didn't look mad because Tsubasa was late, but she was even more strict. She taught Tsubasa a lot of new jumps and didn't let her have a single minute until she nailed them all. At the end of the day,she didn't collapse anymore but neither could she move. Leon had to take her home again in his arms.

"Thanks for all Meryl." he told the blonde woman.

"No problem." she looked at the sleeping girl in his arms. "Do you remember? I used to think Mirai was something supernatural. She was so close.. I really thought she could become The Ice Goddess."

Leon smiled sadly. "I thought so too."

"But this girl.." she said, putting a hand on Tsubasa's head as she gentle patted it. "I think this girl can surpass her sister."

Leon looked in Meryl's eyes. "I know, I'm sure she will."

"Well, tell her I wish her luck tomorrow at the auditions." Meryl said turning around as she prepared to leave. "Oh, one more thing. Tell her that I won't ever forgive her if she doesn't pass the audition."


	7. Audition

**Chapter 7. Audition**

Last night was horrible.

Tsubasa woke up in the middle of the night because a certain ghost's hair was tickling her nose. She was still not used to Fool. Tsubasa simply _couldn't _get used to a ghost walking, ehm.. flying, around her. The past two days she was too tired to notice him even though he tried talking with her now and then. He didn't follow her to the ice-rink or trainings but he would always stay around her while she was at home.

After she woke up the first time, she could only fall asleep after an hour or so and smash Fool on the wall being scared. She did this a second time too as she found him sleeping while hugging her cheek. She did this a third time too in the morning when she opened her eyes a last time and Fool's face was only inches away from hers.

"Come on already, it's the third time!" Fool yelled approaching Tsubasa after he hit the wall.

"B-But, I can't help it! You were too close." she said hugging her panda-pillow.

"I already told you I can't control my actions while I'm sleeping."

"Liar."

She got off her bed and looked at the clock. It was 7:30 am and the auditions are starting at 9 am, she had enough time to eat breakfast.

Tsubasa walked slowly downstairs as she didn't want to wake up her parents yet. She remembered she still didn't tell her mother about her intention on taking the auditions. Maybe she should tell her after she gets accepted, so she will be happy. It was decided, she will come home tonight and tell her she got accepted. This way, she, her mother and her father will celebrate together.

As soon as she arrived in the kitchen, she saw her mother making breakfast.

"Oh, Tsubasa." the former performer said seeing her daughter. "You're awake early. Did something happen?"

"Uh, oh, n-nothing. Did you make omelette?" she asked sitting at the table.

Tsubasa had no idea how to face her mother while she prepared to go to the auditions. She didn't know what to tell her mother and she was also the worst liar she knew.

"Oh." May said as she placed the omelette on her plate. "Your father told me that you two will be going in town today."

"Do you want to come?" Tsubasa asked out of habit without thinking.

'_Wait, what am I saying?!'_

Realizing Leon probably made up an excuse for her to go to the auditions without May knowing, Tsubasa mentally face-palmed. She ruined everything.

"Uh.. that is.. you know, Sora is coming over today." May said while eating and looking away.

Tsubasa got saved by this, though she observed that her mother acted weird.

"By the way, where's dad?" Tsubasa asked looking around.

"He told me he's meeting you in the park, didn't he tell you?"

"Oh, right! I forgot, I'm so clumsy." she replied laughing stupidly.

Tsubasa was really confused now, she thought Leon was going to wait for her and they will go together. Well, she should hurry or she will be late for the auditions.

**XXX**

The black-haired girl stepped inside. It was a familiar room, the one she used to get dressed the day she came here and skated. Though, this time the room was much more lively. A lot of girls were changing, putting on make-up, making warm-ups or praying.

"This is the girls' changing room. The auditions start in ten minutes so please don't be late." a red-haired girl with glasses hanging on the bottom of her nose said.

She was holding a notebook. She tied in a bun leaving only two medium bangs falling over each side of her face. Her eyes were very round and brown, Tsubasa though of a bear seeing her.

"Thanks! By the way, I'm Tsubasa Oswald." the girl said landing the staff member who wore a blue jacket with short sleeves.

She didn't notice that the other girls were staring at her nor did she hear the whispers.

The staff member looked at her hand surprised, but she took it and smiled. "My name is Hilary Dawson."

The staff member left then and Tsubasa stepped forward. She didn't find an empty seat as the room was really full, so she leaned against a wall waiting for the ten minutes to pass.

"Did she just say Oswald?"

"She can't possibly be her, right?"

Tsubasa observed in the end the stares she received from the other girls but as there was really crowded, she decided that people were most likely staring at the person next to her.

Out of curiosity, she turned her head towards her right side and her eyes snapped open.

Next to her was sitting the most beautiful girl she ever saw. She was sitting on a chair without leaning against the wall. Her back was straight, her arms crossed, her legs one above the other and her eyes closed. Her hair was straight and barely touched her shoulders, her nose was small and her lips had a very light shade of pink. The moment she opened her eyes and she looked at Tsubasa, the girl's heart skipped a beat. Her eyes were small, a dark shade of brown coloring them and her eyelashes were long but that wasn't what made them so captivating. She could tell just by looking at the girl's eyes that she was smart.

"Everyone please, come on the stage." Hilary came back and announced.

This made the girls break the eye-contact. The beauty walked out of the room and Tsubasa being captivated by how graceful she was walking couldn't look around, but she managed to get a grip of herself and follow the other girls.

When they stepped in the big room that consisted the stage. Now that the lights turned on she could see that there were two big screens on the right and left side, up the stage, close to the roof.

Tsubasa observed that the boys also gathered in the room. There were more girls than boys, but not much more. Everyone was standing behind the stage while six persons were standing on the other side of the stage. Tsubasa was in the first row so as soon as she looked at the persons standing on the other side of the stage, she couldn't help but smile wide.

Her father and Sora were standing there, almost twenty meters in front of her. The stage was giant.

"Good morning everyone. Good luck on your auditions." that was all a tall, tan man said and handed the microphone to a blonde guy next to him.

"Uhm, what Kalos meant to say was that I will explain everything." the blue-eyed man said. "My name is Ken Robbins and I am the administrator of Kaleido Stage. This is Sora Robbins, Leon Oswald, Mia Guillem and Alexei Kvarski. We will be judging the auditions this year. In this year's auditions we'll like to see what is your talent, of course it has to be something from the list." Tsubasa wondered what list was that man talking about. "We will be calling you in an aleatory order. You can either come with us and watch the other auditions or go and wait in the changing room."

Tsubasa observed that her father didn't even look at her as well as Sora. Her father had a serious look on his face while Sora had the same gentle expression.

"The first person is.." as Ken Robbins called out the first person, Tsubasa decided it was too boring to just wait so she decided to go and watch the other performances.

**XXX**

Tsubasa was tense.

She watched until now over thirty performances and almost all of them were perfect. There were all kinds of performances. From comedians to acrobats, actors and dancers.

She also remembered that she didn't have a proper training and she didn't even had experience. How could she compete with such people?

"Next is Yume Naegino." Ken Robbins's voice came out.

As the stage was not as usual, but an ice-skating rink, the judge and the ones who wanted to watch the other auditions had to move in different places depending on the performance. Up until now, they've been in the training room which amazed Tsubasa with its size. Most of people took their audition there, leaving only ten people including Tsubasa.

They were on the stage when the first name, which was a girl, was called out. Tsubasa watched everything from her seat in the first row.

"Yes." the girl stepped on the ice-rink.

Tsubasa looked surprised, Yume Naegino was the beautiful girl she saw in the changing room. For some reason, she smiled and, in the depths on her mind, she was cheering for Yume Naegino. She was even more surprised to see that she was going to give an ice-skating performance.

"You may begin." the man from judge which Tsubasa remembered as being Alexei said.

A silence covered the stage as the brown-haired girl stepped in the middle of the stage. Her hair was now tied in a small bun and, taking off her black jacket, she showed the others a short, purple dress with black tights. She was also wearing a pair of black, short gloves.

She begun by imitating something.. she was moving her arms like she wanted to fly.

'_Wings?' _

But she wasn't moving them freely, they were somehow tied. They were moving slow and hard, like she was in pain.

Yume begun skating on the stage, but she wasn't moving from a side to another, she was only using a small piece of the whole stage. Tsubasa followed her every move. Even though she wasn't an expert, she could tell that Yume Naegino was holding back. It was like she wasn't giving everything she could. Her spins were small and rare and her speed was slow.

It was not until the climax of her performance that Tsubasa realized what she wanted to do. Suddenly, Yume Naegino sped up and when she reached the center of the rink, she jumped. But it was not a normal jump, like lutz or axel. She had an amazing speed when she jumped a meter and half above the ice. Her body spun three times until she reached the greatest height where she did something which surprised everyone. It lasted only for a second and if you would blink, you'd miss it, but nobody blinked. She fully spread her arms, which were now her wings, and straightened her back. On that very second, her gloves fell off her hands and two purple,long tapes appeared.

"A bird.." Tsubasa whispered for herself captivated by the silhouette on the ice.

She spun three times again as she landed on the ice perfectly, the tapes surrounding her body.

Yume Naegino's performance changed drastically in her last seconds of ice-skating. After her landing, she fulled the stage with life. She was moving more freely, her spins were higher and her arms spread as much as she could.

The skater ended her program by stopping in the center of the stage from where she begun.

Everything was prepared from the beginning. Yume Naegino's moves were that way at first because she wanted to represent a trapped bird, her spin was the moment the bird escaped and the last part of the performance was her free future.

Tsubasa couldn't see the judge's reaction as she was on the other side and it was dark, the only light present in the room being the one who fell above the stage.

"Thank you. Next is Tsubasa Oswald."

"Yes!" as soon as she heard her name, Tsubasa jumped up from her seat and went to the stage.

While she put on her skates, she begun to wonder if she had a chance against those people who were so much more better than her. But she didn't worry for too much. She remembered the reason she decided to join Kaleido Stage; to perform an amazing maneuver. With that dream in her heart and butterflies in her stomach, she stepped on the stage.

From the center of the stage she could clearly see the judge. Her father had a serious expression and he still looked at her as a stranger while Sora tried to whisper 'do your best'.

The black-haired girl took in a deep breath and begun her performance.

**XXX**

Alexei looked one more time at the piece of paper where her name was wrote.

'_Tsubasa Oswald..'_

His blue eyes scanned the name many times and yet he couldn't believe. First, he meets this man called Leon Oswald and now this girl? It was not a coincidence.

When the girl stepped on the rink, he had a feeling he has seen her somewhere, but he didn't know where.

"Is this your daughter, Leon-san?" Ken asked.

"Yes, she's Tsubasa-chan, the one I told you about Ken." Sora said in his place.

That was the moment he realized. This girl seemed familiar because she looked so much like _her _and this man called Leon too. Alexei was sitting next to Mirai's father and in front of him, ready to give an audition was Mirai's sister.

He was angry, he could barely control himself. Why did they appear now? Why does she want to join Kaleido Stage? Why?

"You may start." Ken said and the girl on the stage nodded.

Her performance wasn't anything spectacular, but for some reason,Alexei felt excited; something he didn't feel for a very long time. Her jumps weren't higher than half a meter and her speed was too slow but her body was moving perfectly. It was like her body was moving on its own. The climax of her performance was a high jump she did while hugging her knees.

There was something about this girl.

She wasn't spectacular, she wasn't graceful, she wasn't a pro. She is Mirai's sister after all so why is she like this? She was pretty good, but pretty good wasn't enough. Alexei couldn't understand, but it was clear he wouldn't let her join Kaleido Stage.

"Thank you." Ken said as the girl left the stage.

**XXX**

"I shall announce the results." Ken said reading a paper.

The judge was standing in front of them and they were all in the training room. Tsubasa heard names being called out and she hoped with all her heart her name will be called too.

"Grey Jhons, Rose Constance, Yume Naegino." Ken continued.

When she heard Yume Naegino's name, Tsubasa wasn't surprised she knew that she will get accepted.

"And Tsubasa Oswald." Kalos called out.

Tsubasa was surprised, amazed and happy at the same time. As she looked at her father's expression she was a big disappointed to see he had the same stunned expression but Sora was winking at her. Her heart was fluttering, she was the happiest girl on earth.

'_Did you see this onee-chan? I made It, I really made it.'_

**XXX**

"So, what did you think?" Sora asked looking excited at her best friend.

May was holding the cup of tea tight. She watched Tsubasa's audition.. and she was amazed. As a pro, she knew that Tsubasa wasn't so great, but she had talent. She never, not even once thought that Tsubasa could have such an influence. There was _something _special in her audition, but she couldn't figure out what. The fact that she got accepted was even more surprising. Tsubasa never trained with her serious, she would only make a few jumps once in a while.

"I still can't believe she didn't tell me about this." May said with a serious tone.

Sora's smile fade. "I understand her May. You understand her too, right? She knows the pain you feel, because she's feeling it too. She knows how worried you are but.. I really understand her. " Sora said looking at the mug in her hands. "I remember when I joined Kaleido Stage and my father came here to take me back because he was worried. I really didn't want to worry them, but I loved the stage so much that I couldn't leave. Maybe.. maybe Tsubasa-chan is still not aware, but I saw it."

May looked at Sora's face surprised. "It?"

Sora nodded. "You saw it too right? That sparkle. She was chosen for stage May, there's nothing we can do about it. If she'll fight until the end, there'll be only glory waiting for her once she ends her journey."

"But if she doesn't fight.." May continued. "That's what I'm worried about, Sora. Tsubasa is sensible, she's not like Mirai was! She will not be able to take all the pressure."

Sora put a hand over May's. "If we will support her, I believe she can do anything. She's your daughter after all, right?"

May looked at Sora's smiling face and she relaxed. Maybe she was right.. maybe Tsubasa was much more powerful than she thought.

"Who are you?" a girl's voice asked in a mad tone.

Sora and May got up from Sora's couch and went on the hallway which led to the front door. Tsubasa, Leon and Hana, Sora's ten-years-old daughter were standing there.

"W-Who am I?" Tsubasa asked confused.

"Didn't you hear me? Who are you and what are you doing in my house?" Hana asked crossing her arms in front of her chest.

"Hana, don't be rude." Sora said approaching.

"Mama, who is she?" the little girl asked looking with her blue eyes at her mother. "And why is she so close to Leon?" the little girl gave Tsubasa a deadly glare.

"She is Tsubasa, Leon and May's daughter." Sora answered putting a hand on her daughter's shoulder.

"D-D-Daughter?" Hana asked looking like she was about to faint.

"Hey, what's happening? Why are you all standing here?" Ken asked entering in the house.

"Welcome home Ken." Sora said with a gentle voice as she looked at her beloved husband.

"I'm home." Ken answered looking with the same eyes full of love at hir wife.

"You!" Hana said pointing towards Tsubasa. "I will not give you my Leon by any means!"

"Y-Y-Your?" Tsubasa asked thrilled.

Sora approached Tsubasa and whispered in her ear something. "Hana has a little crush on Leon."

"But.. what about Ken-san?" the black-haired girl asked.

"You can have him, Leon is mine!" the little purple-haired girl said wrapping her arms around Leon's waist.

While Ken begun crying anime tears in the background and Sora tried to calm him, May, Leon, Tsubasa and Hana gathered in the living room at a table.

"Tsubasa." May begun, she looked embarrassed. "Congratulations." she smiled

Tsubasa's worries fade away, her heart felt lighter. "So.. you knew?"

May nodded and her expression changed into a serious one. "Yes and if this really is what you want to do, I won't stop you. But remember Tsubasa, this is a tough path."

Tsubasa nodded but her expression was a happy one. "I will make it mom, you'll see!" she said without worries.

As all of them cheered and celebrated until late at night, May continued to look with worry at her daughter. Tsubasa has no idea what is waiting for her.


	8. Two stars' past

_**Chapter 8. Two stars' past**_

"Fool?" Tsubasa called out as she entered in her room. "Hey Fool, are you here?"

"Right here," he answered patting an empty spot on Tsubasa's bed, his position tried to make him sexy but unfortunately for him, it did not.

"I have so many things to tell you!" she said enthusiastically as she jumped on the bed, almost falling on Fool.

The Stage Spirit quickly got out of her way and took back his place in the air.

"I suppose you got accepted." he said serious.

Tsubasa smiled from a corner of her face to another, she could not keep her enthusiasm anymore. The girl stood up, caught Fool's hands and started spinning around the room.

"I'm so incredibly happy, I can't believe all of this is real!" she said still smiling and spinning.

"M-M-My he-e-ead-d-d." Fool tried to say, he begun getting dizzy.

This was not the first time someone spinned him this way and he already knew what was going to happen, his stomach would take revenge on him even though it wasn't his fault.

"What are you saying Fool?" Tsubasa asked as she stopped spinning. She was holding Fool by his leg, upside down.

"I'm not a fan of spins actually.." he said, his eyes trying to adjust back to the world.

"Oh, _gomen, gomen_." Tsubasa said letting go of Fool.

He started flying again feeling a little better, Tsubasa's smile was still on her face, as bright and big as on the start.

"What?" Fool asked her serious. He observed that the girl expected something from him, her blue eyes were looking right at him.

"Won't you congratulate me?" she asked.

He kept looking at her, his arms crossed. "Do you know what joining Kaleido Stage means?"

Tsubasa's excitement didn't disappear. "The first step to achieve my dream?"

"And what is your dream?"

"To perform a great maneuver just like the one Sora and Layla-san did! It would be.. I can't even put it into words." Tsubasa replied as she let herself fall on the edge of her bed.

Fool kept silent for a few moments before continuing, "Why?"

"Hm? Do you mean why I want to perform such a maneuver?" Fool nodded. "Because.. I want to see what performing such a maneuver will be like. I want to train hard, to learn the maneuver's steps and then perform it at Kaleido Stage."

"I see," Fool answered.

He confirmed his thoughts. Tsubasa's dream was not a dream, but pure curiosity. She only wants to satisfy her curiosity.. But not only this. She wants to be seen as an adult, she wants people to take her seriously, to see her as a person. She has no idea what the training for such a maneuver means, she has no idea how hard it is to bear something like this. But then again, she _is_ May and Leon's daughter and not only this. Her sister died and she kept living on without drowing, she does have something.

Fool decided not to interfere. Afterall, he wasn't there to interfere. The Stage Spirit took out many cards and placed them all around him as he spinned. He choose a card and showed it to Tsubasa.

"The Rollercoaster," he said.

"What? What's that, do you read future in cards?" she asked looking at the petite card in his hand.

"Your journey just begun. After you arrived on the top, you have to take the fall. If you will refuse to take the fall and run away, you will not be allowed to be on top again."

Tsubasa raised an eyebrow suspiciously. Suddenly, she begun to laugh and wave her hand.

"No way, no way, what are you talking about Fool? I haven't even been on top." she replied.

"Have you not been accepted on Kaleido Stage?"

The moment Tsubasa realized Fool was telling the truth, she froze. That meant she was going to take a fall?

She looked at the ghost floating in front of her.

"My predictions are precise, but future can be changed. It all depends on the choices you make." he said seeing the scared look on her face. It was not his job to worry about Tsubasa and tell her encouraging words, but her down face seemed really sad.

"Okay!" Tsubasa replied, getting back into her usual, cheerful mood. "Anyway, I'm going to sleep. Tomorrow will be a big day." the black-haired girl said as she turned the lights off and put the blanket over her head. "Wait!" Tsubasa jumped as a moment after she closed her eyes. "You still didn't congratulate me." she accused Fool.

"May the force be with you," he quoted making Tsubasa smile, though his real intention was to tell her 'Be strong.'

**XXX**

Tsubasa arrived at Kaleido Stage earlier than she was supposed to. She was so excited that she could barely sleep, at five o'clock in the morning she felt like climbing mountains. As the black-haired girl walked down the hallway to the girls' changing room, she spotted Hilary approaching her.

"Hilary!" Tsubasa called out loud.

The red-head got surprised by the sudden call and she tripped as the papers in her hands fell all over the hallway.

"Oh," she said disappointedly looking at the papers, but after a moment she looked up at Tsubasa and smiled back. "Good morning, Tsubasa." she replied politely.

Tsubasa approached her and knelt down in front of her, a look of worry appearing on her face.

"I'm sorry!" she said looking straight into Hilary's brown eyes.

The red-head put her hands in front of her and shook them."It's ok, really, it was my fault."

The other girl shook her head and begun picking up the papers. "Let me help."

"I'm sorry." the red-head replied looking at the ground as she slowly started picking up the papers.

"What for?" Tsubasa asked smiling.

"For causing you trouble, I should take care of those myself, but.."

"Hey, we'll be some kind of partners from today onwards, right? I mean, we're both part of Kaleido Stage, right?" the blue-eyed girl said still picking up papers. "It was my fault too, so it's ok."

Hilary adjusted her glasses as she looked at Tsubasa, she put a hand on the left side of her blue jacket wit short sleeves, the one everyone from Kaleido Stage's staff wore. She smiled back.

"T-Thank you."

Tsubasa picked up the last papaers and hands them to Hilary smiling. "That's a lot better."

"Why are you here so early, Tsubasa?" Hilary asked as the two girls walked down the hallways, the two of them were simply walking around the circus.

"I couldn't really sleep last night." she answered scratching the back of her neck, her long ponytail slipping as she walked. "I was so excited about today, I still am." Tsubasa put a hand on the left side of her chest, her heart was beating like crazy.

Hilary smiled, she could almost feel Tsubasa's excitement.

"By the way, how long have you been working here?" the newcomer asked.

Hilary thought a few seconds before answering. "Three months, I think." she answered a bit embarrassed. "I really love this place," she continued. "I'd always come and watch every show when I was young."

Tsubasa listened to her carefully, she didn't really understand what Hilary meant though.

"I see." she replied.

"And there was Naegino Sora." the moment she said that name, the two girls stopped walking.

They were on the edge of the platform Kaleido Stage was standing on, looking at the sea. Hilary's expression changed drastically.

"Sora?" Tsubasa asked blinking.

"Yes, she was the star at Kaleido Stage for more than fifteen years, can you believe this?"

"I don't really get it.." Tsubasa confessed confused.

She knew that Sora must have been great since she was able the maneuver she saw on the tape, the Legendary Maneuver, but she didn't really understand why Hilary looked as if she was speaking about a God. In fact, now that she thought about it, she has never seen Sora onstage before. She has only been to Kaleido Stage once when she was really young and she couldn't really remember the show she saw, but she was sure Sora was not the one to perform in it. Neither her father. Hilary wanted to continue but someone intrerrupted her.

"Slacking off already, newbie?" a female voice asked.

The two girls turned around to see a woman wearing the same jacket as Hilary approaching. She had blonde, middle-length, straight hair and small eyes.

"N-No!" Hilary answered getting panicked.

"Oh right, it's only half past eight." the woman said looking at her watch. "My bad." she giggled.

Hilary smiled back. "Oh, by the way, this is Tsubasa Oswald, she just joined Kaleido." the redhead said pointing with her hand towards the said new performer. "Tsubasa, this is Amanda Stevens, a member of Kaleido Stage's staff."

The moment Amanda heard Tsubasa's name, her face changed. She was looking amazed at her, her mouth almost dropped.

"Oswald.. Don't tell me you're.." she managed to say, pointing her index finger at the blackhaired girl.

"Uhm.." Tsubasa was feeling awkward, she didn't know what Amanda meant.

"Answer this question right away!" Amanda demanded, scaring both Hilary and Tsubasa with her traightforwardness. "What's your father's name?" she asked her loud, as if they were in army.

"Yes!" Tsubasa replied putting her hand in front of her forehead, as in army. "I-I mean, Leon. Leon Oswald."

"Which means that.. Your mother is May Oswald?"

"Yes." Tsubasa answered still scared.

"Oh my God." Amanda exclaimed stunned.

"Are you serious Tsubasa?" Hilary asked too, her eyes glowing with hope.

"Yes, why?" the black-haired girl asked confused.

"I'm May's biggest fan!" Amanda said taking Tsubasa's hands. "Please present me to her, I'll pay even my life it I have to!" she begged her.

"I want Leon's autograph, I'll also pay with my life!" Hilary said, taking Tsubasa's other hand. "TThough I still have many things I want to do.." she hesistated.

"W-W-Wait, you don't have to pay anything!" Tsubasa tried to calm them down. "I.. I will try my best, but why do you want to meet my mother so badly?" she asked Amanda.

The girls let go of her hands and all of them sat on a bench.

"I suppose you already know that May Oswald was one of Kaleido Stage's stars, one of the best that had ever been in my oppinion." Amanda begun seriously. "May Oswald is my idol, my model. No.. Actually, May Wong is. Before she married Leon Oswald, when she performed at Kaleido, she was the most amazing person I've ever seen. I watched every performance she has ever given, I would always clap as hard as my hands could at that age after every performance." Amanda's expression changed into a gentle one as she talked about Tsubasa's mother. "She and Sora Naegino, the two of them were stars, nothing less. Of course there was also Leon Oswald, but there was something between Sora and May that made you unable to choose between them, though I never had this problem. I always have loved and admired May, always have, always will." she continued. "But this little girl thinks Sora is better." she pointed with her index finger towards Hilary.

"T-That's my oppinion!" Hilary protested.

Tsubasa watched the two girls arguing, she was confused.

"What do you mean by 'stars'?" the black-haired girl asked.

"We mean what we said, simple as that. May and Sora were stars." Amanda answered smiling gently at Tsubasa.

"But how can people become stars? Is that even possible?" the teenager persisted with questions, the subject made her curious. Her mother didn't talk about her past at Kaleido Stage, only on the rare times Leon came home. She realized she knew nothing about her mother.

"That's what I thought too, until I saw their performances for the first time. I couldn't believe nor understand until I saw it with my own eyes, so I understand you." the blonde woman continued.

"You will only understand when you'll see it with your own eyes too." Hilary completed.

"Though," her happy smiled was replaced by a sad one. "I doubt May and Sora will ever step on stage again. Same for Leon." Amanda completed.

"What do you mean?" Tsubasa asked even more confused than before. She knew that her mother gave up on Kaleido Stage a long time ago, when she and Mirai were born to be more precise, but she knew nothing of Sora and even more, her father. He never told her he would not perform at Kaleido Stage anymore. "May gave up on stage soon after she engaged with Leon, probably when you were born." Amanda said smiling gently to show Tsubasa that she didn't blame her for this, though Tsubasa herself was feeling quite bad. "Sora made a pause when her daughter was born too, but she came back. Everything was good after that,but then something happened again and Leon made a pause and Sora decided to not perform either and wait for him. Their pause still continues even now, I will always hope Sora and Leon will come back onstage one day. Due to this pause, Kaleido Stage's new star became Rosetta Pasttel." Amanda informed, her expression showing some anger.

Seeing how Amanda reacted, Hilary spoke. "Everybody still hopes and waits for Sora and Leon to come back, they have thousands of fans all around the world. Me and Amanda too."

Tsubasa couldn't say anything anymore, she surprised and confused.

"Well, the training is about to start. Shouldn't you go?" Amanda asked interrupting Tsubasa's thoughts.

"U-Uhm, yeah, you're right." Tsubasa said getting up. See you later Hilary and it was nice meeting you Amanda." she said, trying to ignore all her thoughts, at least for now.

"It was nice meeting you too." Amanda said landing Tsubasa her hand.

The black-haired girl took it only for a moment and then left.

**XXX**

Tsubasa had a lot to think about and a lot to ask her mother, father and Sora, but not now. She had to concentrate on her courses today.

The training usually starts at at nine o'clock in the morning, but today the teacher, Anna, made the newcomers, which were about twenty, a tour of the whole circus. Tsubasa found out that there was a training room for newcomers, another training room for those who will be in the next show and a last training room for the person or persons who will play the main roles in the next show. The rooms usually looked the same, but for those who will appear in the next show, the rooms may change depending on the training they had to do.

While they visited the room for the persons playing the main roles for the next show, Tsubasa found out that the show currently airing at Kaleido Stage was _Beauty and The Beast_, the show was going to be performed for two more times, this Friday and the next one. The main character, Belle, was played by Rosetta and the Beast was Rosetta's partner, Bennedickt Haunguard.  
"You all can just call me Ben, nice to meet you and welcome at Kaleido Stage." he presented himself to the twenty newbies

He and Rosetta looked somewhat alike; both had the same dark-orange hair, though Rosetta's was barely touching her shoulders while Ben's was tied in a short, low tail. Their eyes were different too, Rosetta's were brown while Ben's were green. He was a head taller than her and their bodies were well-developed, Rosetta was especially well-developed. Mother Nature was very generous with her.

The two of them were very friendly and sociable, but as the newbies got the chance to see them training for the climax maneuver on the trapeze of this show, they all saw how cool and perfect they looked together.

Tsubasa wondered if she would ever find such a partner and be able to be in such good sync with him so that people would see them as one person.

**XXX**

"I'm here," Leon said opening the door to the director's office after knocking.

Kalos was standing up looking at the sea with his hands crawled in his pockets.

"Why did you want to see me?" Leon asked approaching.

"I want to see what you have to say about her joining Kaleido." Kalos said turning around.

Leon knew who was Kalos talking about. "I thought we talked about this."

"You talked with me, I never agreed to anything." Kalos replied.

Leon narrowed his eyebrows. "I will not let you make her go under a training such as the one  
for the Legendary Maneuver."

"I don't have any intention to do this, at least, not now." Kalos replied calmly. "But, if I will take an interes into her, I will do anything to make her succeed walking the path of a true star."

"Like you did Sora?" Leon asked.

"Weren't you also part of the reason she had to go through a lot?" the director continued, memories running on his mind.

"Sora is different-she is strong." the grey-haired man replied. "She had a dream from the very beginning, she had the reasons to be strong and go on, but Tsubasa doesn't."

"You're wrong," Kalos cut him. "Sora didn't have a dream when she first came here, she didn't even have a purpose at the beginning."

Leon didn't hear this before, though he knew Sora for such a long time now

"To tell you the truth, I already have my eye on her." Kalos said recalling a precious information he had; the moment before the auditions he saw Tsubasa skating. "You should trust her more, she is May's daughter afterall, and May is the one you were head over heels for." the director said with a serious tone, though he obviously wanted to tease the former performer. "In any case, I would not let her get away if I make up my mind. You have no right to chose for her now, she has already joined Kaleido Stage and every decision she has to make, she has to herself."

Leon turned around about to leave, but Kalos told him one last thing which surprised Leon, the director never insisted on something.

"You should stop trying to protect her, she would be fine alone. You know this too."

Leon left and closed the door behind him. He refused to listen to Kalos' words. He knew that if Kalos set up his mind, he could transform into a monster. He would not let his little girl get through something like this—not his only little girl.


End file.
